My Slave Boy
by dickard23
Summary: "No kissing on the lips," she said to him. "It's too personal." After his invasion fails, Sokka agrees to become Azula's slave to free Suki from Boiling Rock. Follow them as they go from slave/master to lovers and eventual spouses and all of the chaos along the way.
1. Chapter 1

"No kissing on the lips," she said to him. "It's too personal." She wanted to fuck, not to "make love" or whatever antiquated romantic bullshit his kind expected. From the moment she first saw Sokka in Omashu, she thought he was attractive and expendable. Let's see how long he lasts before she throws him away.

He stared into her golden eyes, that shone so brightly in the dark room. He never thought he'd find himself, in nothing but a pair of short shorts, chained at the leg to a wall with a princess in front of him, an evil wicked princess, one who threatened the world. Somehow, despite his loathing of her, he could not escape her beauty: her silky raven colored hair, golden-colored eyes, ruby lips, and pearly white teeth. His mind was repulsed, but he was quite hard.

"You like what you see," she said with her cocky voice, a half-smirk on her face as she slowly peeled away her kimono, revealing her full breasts, tight abs and muscular legs.

He wanted to look away, but his eyes were glued to her. He wasn't expecting her chest to be so large, not that he could see it well under her armor. She had nice full hips, probably great for bearing children or satanic spawn.

"You're drooling," she teased.

He grunted out of anger and frustration.

"I like it rough," she said hoarsely, her nails digging into his chest. Cuddling is for weak-minded fools. "The men in the Fire Nation are too respectful, to timid when it comes to their princess. I want a man who can take me like a wild animal. That's why I needed a savage. It's why you're here. But first, I need to know that you can actually please a woman. So, please me, or else you will regret it." The venom in her voice made Sokka cringe.

He wanted to wring her neck, to choke the life out of her, but she already demonstrated she could breathe fire out her mouth. The closer he got, the more dangerous it was. He had to keep her happy, only then did he have a chance at surviving.

He pinned her to the bed, blue on gold as he stared her down. He pressed his lips to her neck and worked his way down her flesh. She had just taken a bath. She smelled like jasmine and honey. Her breasts were so soft. His calloused hands felt unworthy of them. He gave them a rough squeeze.

"UMPH!" she moaned loudly. "Keep doing that."

He squeezed them again, groping them intently. He pinched her nipples and then pulled on them. She growled, "good savage."

His lips made their way down her body to her hips. He didn't know what exactly to do next. He had never slept with a woman before. He had only heard about sex from some of the older boys in the tribe. He had to be decisive. She did not seem to be a woman for diddle daddling. He pushed her knees apart and bit down on her inner thigh, leaving a mark where no one else would see.

She smelled sweet and spicy. He pushed forward and licked her, closing his eyes and trying to pretend it was Suki, but who was he kidding? How could he pretend this was with Suki. Suki wouldn't chain him to a wall. Suki wouldn't abuse him for her sexual pleasure. Suki was too sweet for anything other than romance.

Azula, however, had nothing sweet about her, except for the nectar in between her legs.

"OH AGNI!" She pushed his head forward, steering him to where she wanted him to go. Her back arched, sending her hips toward his head. Her hold was firm and she had no qualms about pulling on his hair. The pain made it easier. It reminded him not to enjoy this. She bucked against him, grunting loudly. To try and take some of the pressure off his face, he shoved two of his fingers inside her, so she would buck against them instead.

It worked. She rode his fingers hard until she came. She shoved his head away when she was done.

"Very good. Good savages get rewarded." She shoved him onto his ass and pulled his shorts down, revealing his large erection, easily the largest she had ever seen at about 24 cm, and it was thick, about 4cm across. She stroked it with her hand, her touch surprisingly soft.

"UGH!"

"You like that, don't you." She took out a leather condom and rolled it on him. "In me, NOW!"

She did not say many words. She just gave orders and he followed them. He grabbed her hips, slowly guiding himself into her. He never thought his first time would be like this, with his leg chained to the wall. She growled as he filled her, stretching her to her limit as he reached the hilt. She was so fucking tight. He paused for a minute to adjust. He stared down, his second worst enemy under him. She likes it rough does she?

He grabbed her hips, his nails digging into her flesh as he began to buck his hips, wantonly, without any consideration for her. She locked her legs around his hips and dug her nails into his back, scratching like a wildcat in heat as she mewed and moaned. "OH AGNI AHHH!"

Her moans of pleasure only spurred him on and he fucked her harder, grunting and growling as his body enjoyed himself. His mind was in shambles. He can't enjoy this. He won't let her turn him against his girlfriend, his family, his country, the world. His body, however was ready to betray it all at a moment's notice."

Azula reached her hand between her legs, rubbing her clitoris. He didn't want her getting off so quickly. He shoved her hand away. "You cum when I say you do."

She snarled, but she liked his aggression. His eyes locked into hers, a fiery stare meeting an ice-cold gaze. His eyes were closed, but hers were wide open, his loud grunts meeting her high-pitched moans until they both came all over the sheets.

Azula got up, putting on her kimono and quickly leaving. "There's more sheets in the closet. I'd change them before you go to bed. Rest well, Savage. You'll have a busy day tomorrow." She slept alone and she needed to go to bed soon, so she would be well-rested for her firebending training at sunrise.

Azula unceremoniously went back to her room, as if nothing had happened between them. His heart was pounding out of his chest. How could she just proceed like it was nothing? Sokka couldn't imagine what went on in her mind.

He washed himself in the restroom. His ankle chain was connected to a sliding rod, which allowed him to reach the entire room and the connected bathroom. He could use some food, but he doubted that anyone would bring him some before tomorrow. He changed and went to sleep. He hoped he made the right decision.


	2. Chapter 2

The Day Before

**The Day of the Black Sun**

Aang, Toph and Sokka stormed the bunker, ready to take down Ozai when they met Azula instead.

"Oh hello, Mr. Avatar. Care to join me? I was just starting my afternoon tea."

"I don't want any tea."

"She's messing with you," Toph growled.

"Where's the Fire Lord?"

"Now, that's rather rude. Coming into my city and making demands. I am a Princess. I do not take orders from Avatars or his peasantry friends."

"I am NOT a peasant. I am a Bei Fong," Toph growled.

"Really, now. Aren't your parents loaded? They dine at the finest restaurants in Ba Sing Se. Some of my best customers since I conquered it."

"Where's the LOSER LORD?"

"Now, that's just rude. We don't show up at your house and call you the Blind Bumpkin now do we?"

"Where's SUKI!" Sokka demanded to know.

"Who?"

"My girlfriend."

"Maybe she left you for another man. How would I know?"

"You captured her!"

"Did I?" Was she a warrior? Snooki?"

"SUKI!"

"Sally?"

"SUKI?"

"Yuki?"

"SUKI!" He drew his sword.

She drew her shuriken. "Now don't get testy! Your girlfriend is in prison. I'll let her go if you make me a trade."

"What could I trade you?"

"How about yourself? You look like a strong man. I could use a savage."

"I won't work for you."

"Fine, then Suki's mine. Maybe she'll like what I have in store."

"IF YOU HURT HER!"

"You'll what?"

Azula kept them distracted until the eclipse was over. It was a total bust. Hakoda and his men got captured. No one got near Ozai (other than Zuko). Sokka felt like he failed everyone. He was about to leave when Azula said, "I was serious you know. If you stay, I'll let Suki go."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't, but do you have a choice? How much does she mean to you anyway?"

Sokka took the bait and to his pleasant surprise, Azula did actually let Suki go. She chained Sokka to a tree near Boiling Rock and went in to get her favorite prisoner.

"I won't talk," Suki growled as she got led away in chains.

"Please, peasant. You don't know anything I don't know anyway." Azula had a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Just wait and see what I have in store for you."

She landed her balloon and showed Suki the cost of her freedom. Then she gave them five minutes, just like she had promised.

Suki wasn't happy when she learned Sokka's fate.

"SOKKA! How could you do something so reckless?"

"You're a more trained warrior than I am. They need you more than they need me. I couldn't let anything happen to you."

"I was fine, well as fine as you can be in prison."

"You have 3 minutes," Azula called.

"Look, find Aang and the others. Join them, and I'll hopefully see you after the comet. Stay strong. I need you to be strong for both of us."

Suki kissed him and ran off, barely able to stand the sight of him in chains.

Azula grinned. "You must really love her to trade yourself."

"Why do you care?"

"I find love fascinating. I have no room for it of course, since it is a distraction, but it amuses me to no end what people will do for it. I've seen people lie for the ones they love, kill for the ones they love, commit treason for the ones they love, but never sacrifice themselves like this. You are brave, a fool, but a brave fool, which is better than a cowardly fool, now come on. You're my fool now."

Azula led the shackled warrior to her war balloon and they went back to the palace.

"I could just jump you know."

"And kill yourself? Suki would feel so sad. She'd never forgive herself. You wouldn't want her to live with that guilt, would you?"

Sokka hated her. "You're evil."

"Why thank you. I think that's a compliment when said by the enemy."

"You can't possibly think you're good."

"Why wouldn't I? Who's good and who's evil depends on the winners and losers. The winner gets to be good and the loser becomes evil. I always win, so I am good. You lost yet again, so in my history book, you're the evil one." She hissed in his ear, her warm breath tickling him.

"We will stop you."

"Keep telling yourself that. You couldn't stop me without my bending. You can't stop me now. You belong to me, and I will do with you whatever I like."

Present

Sokka tried to sleep in his bed. He couldn't stop the Princess from taking what she wanted, yet again. His body was tired, but his brain was too fragmented to relax. Did he make the right decision? Would Suki be able to find the rest of the team? Will he ever get out of here? What would he say to his family and friends if he saw them again?

Eventually, Sokka's brain got too tired and he fell asleep. When he woke up, the room was quite hot. He went to wash off his face and chest and when he came out of the bathroom, he heard the door open.

Azula came in with a tray of komodo sausage, turtle duck eggs and bread rolls. "Eat up. I need you to have your energy."

"Bringing me breakfast in bed. How romantic," he teased.

"Don't kid yourself, Savage. I don't want my servants to know you're here."

"Are you not allowed to have slaves?"

"Not sex slaves obviously. What kind of man do you think my father is? Now eat and hush up. Your training will commence in an hour."

"Training?"

"You're no good to me out of shape." Does he not know that he is eye candy as well? How could he not with his broad chest, six-pack abs and those legs that are like tree trunks?

"Oh."

He got a plate of eggs and bacon with some bread. It actually smelled pretty good.

Azula left before he could actually try any of it. She was hardly one to eat breakfast with her slave.

An hour later, Sokka heard his door open again. Azula threw a shirt at him and while he put it on, she undid his ankle chain. "Now let's go."

There was a training room under the palace, near the bunker. She handed him a practice sword.

"Where's your sword?"

Azula produced a flame.

"You have real fire, but I have a fake sword," he complained.

"Fine," she turned her flame down from blue to orange. "Anything else to whine about?"

He shook his head.

"Good," she did not wait for him to bow. She just threw a fireball at his head. She chased him around the ring; he ducked and dodged, using his quickness to escape her attacks until he could get a chance to advance.

He started to break down on his form. Escaping the fire seemed more important than his principles. Azula paused. "Is this the best Piando could do?"

"How did you know I trained with Piando?"

"I have my sources, and I'm sure he taught you better than this. He even taught my stupid brother better than this."

"He taught your brother, but he's a bender?"

"A mediocre bender. Father thought if he learned swords, he'd get more confidence and become a better bender. Hah! Like that was ever going to happen."

"It's hard to think straight when you throw fireballs so fast."

"Don't think, Peasant Boy, just do. The whole point of training is that it's instinctive, automatic. Now, fix your form and fight like you were taught."

Sokka grunted, not liking Peasant Boy any more than Savage, and fixed his stance. Now it was time to show her what he could actually do. He attacked first, sending precise jabs her way as he moved his feet quickly. He kept his free arm tucked to protect it from her flame and managed to get her backpedaling.

His victory was short-lived, however, when she incinerated his wooden sword. "Let's see how long you last tomorrow. Now take a bath, you reek!"

She left some soap for him in his room. It smelled like cedar. He wondered if everyone else was okay.


	3. Chapter 3

Western Air Temple

Suki found Aang and the others.

"Where's Sokka?" Katara asked her.

She tearfully explained how Sokka traded his freedom for hers. "Azula has him, for what, I don't know."

Katara was scared for him and furious he risked his life like that. "How could he do something so stupid? No offense Suki."

"It's okay. I'm mad at him too. Who knows what she might do to him?"

* * *

Ty Lee and Mai had been at Mai's cousin's house when the acrobat thought of something. "Have you heard from Azula since the invasion attempt?"

"No, why?"

"Well, Zuko defected and what if Azula's in trouble?"

"Why would Azula be in trouble for what he did?"

"Well, she did bring him home, call him a war hero, and told her father that he shot the Avatar."

"SHE WHAT?" How did Mai not know this? She was just glad he had come home. She hadn't thought about how Azula made it happen.

"And Ozai might have blamed her for bringing him home in the first place."

"You don't think she's …"

"Don't say it," Ty Lee pleaded.

"Dead do you?"

"Why did you have to say it?"

"We were both thinking it."

"But it's real now that you said it."

"Well, let's go and check on her.

They went to the palace and knocked on her door.

Azula was going through her notebooks, working on a plan for Sozin's comet. "Come in!"

The two girls rushed in.

"What are you two doing here?"

Ty Lee came to hug her. "Oh you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be?"

"We were worried that Ozai might have been mad at you after Zuko left."

"Dum Dum defected; I didn't."

"I know, but you brought him home and he was deemed a war hero well because of you."

"Thanks for reminding me," about my traitorous brother.

"You hadn't asked us to do anything, so we were concerned," Mai said coolly.

They found it odd that Azula had no instructions for them, given how bossy and domineering she usually was.

"I don't need anything. I thought you might enjoy the time off." She actually didn't care what they were doing. Did they really think she was dead because she didn't give them any work?

"We did," Mai growled. "Let's go back to that!"

Ty Lee was snooping. She found Sokka's space sword in Azula's closet. "What's this?"

"It's a sword."

"Whose is it?"

"Just a savage's. Don't worry about it."

"Is this his boomerang too?"

"Well duh!" Like I would buy one.

"What happened to him?"

"Nothing."

"Is he dead?"

"No."

"Jail."

"No."

"Then where is he?"

"Why do you care?" Azula did not want to explain herself to her friend.

"I just wanted to know," Ty Lee sounded sad about being shut out.

"Fine," Azula sighed. "He's in the palace."

"Really? Why?"

"Because he's my slave now, okay."

"Like a gladiator?" Ty Lee perked up. Gladiators are cool.

"He's for more well, carnal needs."

"Really?" Ty Lee raised a brow. "Is he good?"

"Of course he is. Or else I would have sent him to jail."

"Can I use him too?"

Azula was insulted. "No! I'm not sharing."

"Why not, if he's just a slave?" Azula's never been picky about her "attendants" before.

"Why would you want to share a man with me?"

"I just haven't gotten any in a while."

"Go back to Ember's Island. The boys loved you over there."

"But I didn't like any of them."

"What makes you think you'll like my slave?"

"You like him, and you don't like most people."

"I don't like him at all. He's just good at what he's here for."

"That's more than most men can say."

"Whatever!"

"Is he hot?"

"Duh! Like I'd have sex with an ugly man."

Mai was bored. Ever since her breakup with Zuko at Ember's Island, she had sworn off men.

"Can I at least meet him?"

"You want to meet him?"

Mai grunted. "Let's just get this over with, so we can go to lunch. I'm hungry."

Azula reluctantly took her friends to meet Sokka.

"Savage! Are you decent?" She opened the door before he could answer, but he was dressed.

Ty Lee peered over the Princess's head. "Here he is, happy!"

"Oh, he's so hot!" Ty Lee recognized him as one of the Avatar's friends.

"Down girl," Mai growled.

"Can I?"

"No," Azula and Mai said at the same time.

"Now let's go get lunch."

She closed the door, locking it before the trio went to get dim sum.

Sokka was confused. Did she just bring her friends to meet me? "Hey everyone, this is my sex slave!" he mocked. What a fucked up country!

* * *

Later that night, Azula came by his room again, wearing a black, silk nightgown. It clung to her body, accentuating her generous curves.

Sokka froze at the sight of her. She was dark, devilish and so sexy. He gulped as he felt the air escaping his lungs. Azula mad a small flame with her fingers and burned through his clothes, leaving him naked. She straddled him, her lips sinking into his neck as she left her mark.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" she said with a haughty tone.

"You wish. You repulse me."

"Really? Little Sokka disagrees." She could feel him stiffening up already, and she had just gotten there.

"I can't control that!"

"So you are into me? You can't help but get hard when I come close to you."

He grunted angrily.

"Do you get this hard when Suki sits on your lap?" she said smugly.

He snarled.

"You don't. She doesn't do it for you, does she? She seems like a sweet girl, but sweet girls do not make for fun sex partners, do they?"

He refused to respond.

"You haven't even done it with her have you? Do you think she's a virgin? That's she's saving herself for you. I wonder how she'd react knowing that I have had my way with you. Do you think she will still be your girlfriend?"

"You know nothing about her."

"I know she had no problem leaving you behind to be my sex slave."

Sokka cringed.

"You didn't tell her did you? She has no idea why you are here. Did she not even ask? Or did you lie to her?"

Sokka grunted. He hated that she could read him so easily. He needed Toph to teach him how to lie.

"She didn't even ask you your fate. She didn't try to fight me. What kind of warrior is she? She sounds more like a coward."

"She's much stronger than you'll ever be."

Azula took off her nightgown, stunning him with her breasts right in front of his face, making him temporarily forget his girlfriend's name.

"Really, that's how I knocked her out cold with one punch. I didn't even need my firebending. She doesn't defend herself well. She just lunges, kind of like a rabid zebra wolf. Maybe that's how you like it, girls foaming at the mouth. Is she a sloppy kisser?" Before he could answer that, she pushed him on the bed, her hand encircling his erection and she put a condom on him.

She straddled him, easing herself onto his large rod. "This is nice. While she's out in the wilderness doing Agni knows what, I have her man, under my hips, at my mercy, living in luxury. It's funny, isn't it? How things turn out for the good guys because according to you, I'm not good, and apparently neither are you. A good guy wouldn't enjoy screwing his girlfriend's captor. He wouldn't get hard at the sight of her. He wouldn't let himself be overtaken by lust. You're not a good guy are you? That's why I like having you here. Good guys are boring."

She was riding at full speed now, a smirk on her face as she bounced along happily. Sokka wanted to slap the smirk off her face. He hated her with a fiery passion. He hated himself for enjoying the sight of her breasts bouncing, her hips rolling and the sensation of her tight heat on his cock. He should be repulsed, on the verge of vomiting, but instead, he found himself getting lost in her wet heat. He reached up to her nipple and bit on it, chewing intently as she growled loudly. It hurt so good. She grabbed his hair pulling him closer.

He rolled her over, pushing her legs in the air as he started to pound her.

"OH AGNI!" she cried out as her savage took control. He leaned forward and bit her breast, her nails digging into him as he thrusted, leaving new scratch marks over his older ones.


	4. Chapter 4

Nightfall hit the camp and the Gaang was unsure of what to do. The invasion failed. They lost Sokka. The narrowly escaped death when this crazed hitman tried to kill them. Aang still couldn't firebend. He couldn't even get past Azula without her bending. "What hope do I have to beat Ozai?"

"You will get through this, Aang!" Katara insisted. "You have to, and we have to help you."

"Yeah Twinkle Toes, we'll stop the Loser Lord and his bitchy daughter."

Aang nodded but he didn't believe it. He was lost.

The next morning, Toph heard a rustling in the woods. Who is that?

"It's me Zuko!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Katara snarled.

"I came to join you if you will take me. I left my father and the Fire Nation. The war is wrong."

"No way!" Katara yelled. "You'll just betray us again."

"Look, I'm sorry about that!"

"You're sorry! Aang almost died because of you. Ba Sing Se fell, and when we went to try and stop your father, they got Sokka!"

"Who got Sokka?"

"Your crazy sister made him a slave!"

"She what? If I had known he was there, I would have taken him with me. How did she enslave him?"

"He traded himself for me," Suki said quietly. "She offered him the deal and he took it."

"She honored it?" Zuko was surprised.

"I know. I would have thought it was a lie."

"She must have wanted him for something. I hope she's not torturing him for information."

"You're NOT helping your case," Katara snapped.

"Look, let me do something. I can teach Aang how to firebend."

"We do need a teacher for him," Toph said.

* * *

As the group decided whether or not to trust Zuko, Sokka was unsure what to think of the princess. Almost everything that came out of her mouth was vitriol, but here he was with good food, a bed, his own bathroom and he even got exercise. If it wasn't for the chain, he could be mistaken for a guest of the palace.

When she came with his lunch, he asked, "Is there anything to do around here?"

"There's plenty to do, none of it for savages. Why, are you bored?"

"Yes."

"Are you not getting enough sex? Savages really like it don't they."

He snarled.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist." She came back with some books.

"Children's books?"

"I'm sure they're at your reading level." She left before he could respond.

"Love Amongst the Dragons, The Princess and the Hermit Frog and Sleeping Beauty. I don't believe this." Sokka was hoping for something manlier, or at least adult appropriate. He should have known better.

He started with Love Amongst the Dragons. It actually wasn't bad. Who knew the Fire Nation could write about romance?

She came back with dinner. "How was your read?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't."

She abruptly left. He had meat stew with rice and a side of fruit. Was she trying to be nice just then? He had assumed she was mocking him.

She always came back three hours after dinner.

This time she wore a little black dress, almost the size of a shirt. He wondered why she dressed up for him. It's not like she was trying to seduce him or anything. He was acting under the threat of serious harm.

"Why do you dress up for this? You could wear a bed sheet and get the same result."

"Are you turned on by girls in bed sheets?" She asked coyly.

"Are you trying to turn me on?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "I like to do everything with perfection. I'm not going to show up for a liaison looking like a ghost or a girl too broke for decent nightwear."

"Well, the nightwear is nice."

"Thank you. Now stop talking. I have other plans for your mouth."

She untied her dress, letting it fall off her body as she used the sash to pull Sokka towards her.

He bit his lower lip as he admired her from head to toe. What a delicious sight.

"I like that you like what you see, but I didn't come here for you to admire me. Now ravish me like the savage you are."

He snarled. She took a perfectly nice moment and had to add her vitriol to it. He took her sash, using it to tie her arms to his bedpost. She wants to be ravished. She'll get it.

Harsh teeth and rough hands roamed her body, leaving marks on her breasts and stomach, only marred by the marks he had left previously. She grunted and growled, seemingly content with his treatment. What kind of girl likes this? She doesn't want soft whispers in her ear or loving kisses. She just wants to be taken control of, pushing on being abused. If that's what she wanted, that's what she's going to get.

He rubbed his palm against her sex. She was sopping, eyes wide open, lips just starting to part. He grabbed a condom that she had left on his bedside table and rolled it on. Pushing one leg over his shoulder and leaving her other leg at his side, he pushed his way inside of her. She was very flexible, seemingly comfortable in this stretched position.

"UGH!" she grunted loudly as he rushed to fill her. He gave her little time to adjust, moving quickly and aggressively as he drove his hips back and forth.

His move was brazen, some might even say suicidal, but Azula was content with her capture. That was evident or else he wouldn't still be breathing. He held a hand on her stomach, keeping his balance as he bucked against her wildly, his eyes turning from blue to red as if he were in a rage. She smirked. She had a good little savage.

He was starting to slow down, fatigue clearly hitting him due to his aggressive start. "You aren't getting weak on me," she growled. "Someone needs more exercise." Clearly, he's out of shape. "Did you sit around and do nothing in your tribe? Is that why you're tired?"

His anger was enough to fuel him as he grabbed her shoulders, driving into her with fury. He wanted to cum. He roughly rubbed her with the palm of his hand, bringing her orgasm about sooner. Her tightness was enough to bring him over the edge and he fired off.

"Untie me," she said bitingly.

"What if I don't?" he growled.

Azula, smirked, she undid the sash with her flame guided by one finger. "Let me make one thing clear, Peasant. You were able to tie me up because I let you. If you think you can beat me, you cannot. Even bound and asleep, I will destroy you."

She quickly put her dress over her head, leaving the burnt silk sash on the bed before she went to sleep. "Sweet dreams, Savage!"

"UGH!" Sokka groaned as he hit the bed. He was so conflicted it made him feel ill. Azula was nasty, mean-spirited, repulsive even, but she was gorgeous and the sex was amazing: her body, her scent, the sounds of her moaning. He shouldn't be enjoying this. She shouldn't have the satisfaction of knowing he's enjoying this. How does she make him feel so weak with just her words?


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Are my chapters too short?

* * *

Katara felt lost. Her father was in jail, her brother a slave and her mother was dead. Gran Gran was so far away. It was just Katara. It had never been like this before. She stared at the moon, hoping that somehow Yue could guide Sokka back to them. Hopefully, he can find a way to escape. Who knows what horrible things are happening to him.

Aang noticed Katara had been more morose since they learned about her brother. He wanted to help, but what could he say? _I bet Sokka's just fine._ Who knows if he's fine or not? He might even be dead. The only thing Aang did know is that Sokka never gave up, and they couldn't either. They had to forge forward, even if it did feel hopeless sometimes.

Toph was getting to know Zuko or Sparky as she called him. "So what was it like growing up with the Loser Lord and your crazy sister?"

"Things used to be nice, when my mother was here. Ozai had her banished. I miss her every day."

"He banished his own wife, wow! So, what was Azula like as a little kid? Was she always so homicidal?"

"I wouldn't say homicidal, but she always had a mean streak. It wasn't enough to win a spar; she had to knock you down, knock you out if she could. Dad wanted her to be ruthless and he succeeded. She always has to be the best, the best firebender, the best student, the best fighter. She's obsessed with perfection."

"I'm an only child. I used to wish for a sibling, so my house wouldn't be so boring, but maybe I had it better. Maybe I didn't. Sokka and Katara are close."

"I feel awful. I still can't believe he did that for Suki. I cared about Mai, but …."

"You're not a hopeless romantic?"

"I guess not."

"That's okay, I think romance anything is a waste of time."

"That sounds like something Azula would say."

"Humph. If she wasn't all evil and stuff, maybe we could have been friends."

"Now that's a big if."

* * *

Sokka was on a beach, sun tanning his already dark skin, the sound of waves crashing soothing his ears. He was ready to enjoy himself as a beautiful woman fed him grapes, soft gentle hands, perfect lips, a lovely figure and eyes gold like the sun.

He woke up, barely remembering the dream, only glimpses of it in his mind. The door opened; Azula came in with a tray of food and she snickered.

"What?"

"You're that excited to see me, already?"

He looked down to see that he already had an erection. She had a smirk on his face, and he wanted to get rid of it.

"Take care of it," he growled. If she wanted aggressive, then that's what she'll get.

"Aren't you going to say please?" She teased him.

"NOW!"

"Well aren't you bossy?" she said with a haughty laugh.

She locked the door, sauntering over to him before she pushed his shorts out of the way. Her hand wrapped around him, her soft tongue, teasing his slit as she moved it up and down the head.

"UMPH!" he grunted as she moved slowly, using her tongue to get him nice and slick.

He grew frustrated with her teasing, steering her head forward with his hands. She sucked him into her mouth, gauging how deep she could get.

"Is that all you got?" he said with a snarl.

Is he serious? She'd like to see him try to get this rod in his mouth. She pushed forward, suppressing her urge to gag as she got a few more centimeters in her mouth. She would not be defeated by a stupid savage with a lead pipe between his legs. She used her hand to stroke what she could not reach.

Sokka found the sight ironic. A princess, the second most powerful person in the world's most dreaded nation, was on her knees sucking his cock. He could not even pretend to understand what motivated her. No girl had ever done this for him before, but it was quite pleasurable. She didn't look at him. Her eyes focused on what she was doing. She was even militant about how she gave head.

He could feel the end coming near. His grunts grew louder and the tension in his loins was at its peak. He burst inside of her mouth, holding her head on him as he growled, "Swallow every drop!" Here he was, bossing around his arch nemesis in bed, and she was enjoying it; so was he. What does that say about him?

She swallowed the salty liquid and then licked her lips. "Enjoy your breakfast," she said as she walked out. She had enjoyed hers.

His food was now cold, but it was well worth it.

An hour later, Azula came to train him. They started with sword work and then moved to hand to hand combat.

"Do you know how to grapple?" she asked him.

"What?"

She swept his legs from under him, then pinned him to the floor with his arms over his head. "I guess not."

They fought on the ground. He threw punches and some of them connected but she was quicker, her precise jabs left a sting after she hit him. He had just pinned her, or well almost pinned her before she kicked out. He was about to try again when he heard a giggling sound.

They both stopped to see Ty Lee and Mai. "Are we interrupting?" Ty Lee asked with a giggle.

"What are you doing here?" Azula growled. Can't they see I'm busy?

"We were going to invite you to lunch with us. Can we bring him?"

"You want me to bring my slave to lunch?"

"He should see the city."

"Why? Plus, he can't go in the rags he calls clothes."

My clothes are NOT rags, Sokka scowled in his mind.

"He could wear something of Zuko's. Come on, it will be fun."

Azula shook her head. "He'll need a bath first. He reeks!"

"I can help," Ty Lee said flirtatiously.

"You cannot!"

Azula guided him to his room. "I'm not putting your chain back on for now. Don't make me regret it."

Sokka quickly calculated his odds of escaping alive. They weren't very good, given the power of Azula's friends!

He took his bath, perplexed by this turn of events. Her friends wanted to have lunch with him? And she allowed it. She doesn't seem to be one to give in to Ty Lee's whims.

Azula freshened up herself and got on a red silk shirt, sleeveless with a scoop neck collar and a black skirt.

"Isn't that a cute outfit?" Ty Lee told her.

"All of my outfits are cute." No they aren't, but she's the princess. Who will argue with her?

"Not as nice as this one. I bet Sokka will like it."

"Who cares? He said I could wear a bed sheet and get the same results."

"You asked him about what you wear."

"Shut up!"

Mai almost smiled, then her face went blank again. Something about Azula getting flustered over a boy was mildly amusing.

Azula quickly picked something out of Zuko's and then brought it to Sokka's room. He was still in the bathtub. "I'm putting these clothes on your bed. My brother is scrawny compared to you, so hopefully it's not too small!"

He didn't answer. When he got dressed, the pants were okay, but the shirt was tight.

Azula came back with Mai and Ty Lee. "You look like a concubine," Azula said bluntly, the fabric clinging to his chest.

"I like it," said Ty Lee, "Meow!" She did a claw with her hands. Azula glared at her. Mai shook her head.

"We'll need to get you some proper clothes. I am not taking you to a restaurant looking like that!"

They went to a store downtown and found him a red shirt, a gold shirt, a black shirt and some black pants. Ty Lee saw these gold tight pants she tried to get him to wear. Both he and Azula refused. "He is not a stripper!"

Sokka couldn't believe she was buying him clothes and they were nice, made from the finest silks.

"Now that you look presentable, let's go." They went to a dim sum restaurant.

"Where's the menu?" Sokka asked.

"There is no menu. You point at what you want and they put it in front of you."

"It's like a buffet, you can just keep eating!" Ty Lee loved this place.

Sokka smiled at that.

Azula was seated at the best table, as she always was, and she requested a pitcher of hard lemonade for the table, spiked with rum.

"I love their hard lemonade."

"What makes it hard?" Sokka asked. Ty Lee smirked at him. He turned away nervously.

"The booze," Mai said dryly.

They brought the pitcher and the cart. Azula quickly pointed at a basket of sesame buns. Sokka got the skewered meat, Mai the shumai and Ty Lee got the pork buns. The girls stated taking things off each other's plates. Sokka was surprised that Azula would go to a place with shared food.

Sokka stared at his food.

"Is there something wrong with it?" Azula questioned, ready to get the chef fired.

"No, it's good. I'm just surprised that we're in a place like this."

"And why is that?"

"It seems so low key. I imagined you only ate in places where they put caviar on everything."

Ty Lee laughed. "She comes here like every week!"

"To think, bringing a savage like me to your favorite restaurant."

"Don't get used to it," she cautioned.

They had basket after basket of delights and Sokka was full. He was also a bit tipsy. Ty Lee was just drunk and Mai seemed to be the most sober. Had she drunken anything?

The acrobat kept making eyes at him, trying to play footsie under the table. She made him uncomfortable.

"Ty Lee, leave him alone," Mai growled.

"But he's so cute!"

"He's clearly about to run away from you."

"He will not run anywhere," Azula said firmly. "Ty Lee stop touching him."

"But I didn't …"

Azula glared and that was the end of that. Ty Lee could have sworn she saw Azula's aura turning a bit pink and also green. Was she jealous? Did she like Sokka as more than just a sex slave? No wonder she hasn't had them do any work in over a week.

Mai and Ty Lee headed home. Azula took Sokka back to the palace. "Try not to mess up your new clothes."

"How would I mess them up?"

"I don't know. I don't practice savagery."

He snarled. She smirked and went back to her room. Just when he thought they had a good day together, she had to go be a bitch.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: In my head, the drinking age was 16, but being the princess, no one cares that Azula orders drinks.

* * *

Zuko was trying to firebend but nothing was coming out. "I just don't get it."

"You decided now was the time to lose your firebending?" Katara growled. "So you went from being evil to useless."

"Katara, he's trying," Aang tried to defend him.

"Firebending is different from the other elements," Zuko said. "You have to fuel it. I used to use my anger, but now that's gone. I don't know what to use now."

"Maybe you should try going to the first firebenders," Toph suggested. "I learned to earthbend from the badger moles."

"Maybe Appa could teach me some airbending moves. Sky bison are the first airbenders."

"The dragons are dead," Zuko said.

"All of them? There were plenty when I was growing up."

"Uncle Iroh killed the last one."

"Maybe the sun warrior's temple has something," Toph suggested.

The boys set off on Appa, hoping to find out how to firebend.

They got to the temple. Aang was about to run up the stairs when Zuko grabbed his collar. "It's a trip wire."

They had to be careful, twisting and dodging the traps as they made their way up. When they got to the top, they read the markings.

"We can't wait until the solstice!"

Zuko used his sword to deflect the sun's rays, opening the door. Then, they saw the statutes.

"I think it's a dance," Aang said. They practiced the poses.

A man came out. "Who is that in our temple?"

The boys turned. "It's me, Aang. I'm the avatar."

"I'm Prince Zuko, well I was a prince."

"Why are you here?"

"We were hoping to learn how to firebend."

"I used to know, but once I stopped being angry, I lost my source."

"The dragons will only teach who is worthy. Are you ready to meet your fate."

"Yes!"

The sun was just about to set. They did the dance in its entirety, meeting at the middle.

Ran and Shao came out. Jets of fire left their mouths, turning all sorts of colors as they danced. The sight was amazing, inspiring and Aang and Zuko both learned that firebending was about celebration and life just as much instead of just war and destruction.

They both felt a new inner fire inside them and now felt ready to save the world.

* * *

As the days went on, Sokka became more curious about the princess. If you looked at her actions and not her words, she would seem quite nice. She brings him good food, trains him, buys him nice clothes, pleases him, but her words are so full of spite. It's like she wants him to stay mad at her. He wanted to know why.

She came by with his lunch. He stared at her, wondering if he should ask or not.

"What are you looking at, _Savage!" _

"Just wondering which Azula would come in here."

"What?"

"There seems to be two of you. One of them lives to piss me off, calling me savage, insulting my loved ones and my culture. The other one is sweet, brings me nice meals, trains me, pleases me, even leaves these little chocolates by my pillow," he held one up. "It's like you can't decide whether you want to be nasty or nice."

"I never have trouble deciding anything," she lied.

"Then why the changes of tone. Why aren't you the same all the time?"

"If you want me to be meaner, I can do that."

"Now you're just deflecting."

She growled. "If you must know, Savage, I'm mean to you, so that you don't fall for me."

"What?" Why on Earth would he fall for her?

"You men are all the same. I say I want it rough and they all puff out their chests like they can deliver, but then they look at me like I'm made of glass and want to cuddle or some girly crap. If I remind you that we're enemies, then you will keep your anger and resist the apparently overwhelming urge to take care of me. I don't want to be taken care of. I take care of myself."

"You keep me angry, so I won't try to care about you."

"Very good, for a savage!"

He growled, and then he smiled. "Well now, I'm not angry anymore."

"What? Why not!" Damn it!

"It's one thing to know you actually see me that way and quite another to know that you insult me because you are afraid."

"I am not afraid!"

"Of course you are. You're afraid to be loved, so you make sure you are feared or hated. Why else would you drive all of those men away?"

"They didn't love me. They loved the idea of being a prince. They wanted to woo me with their cheesy words and pretty presents, but none of them loved me."

"How do you know?" She was probably right, but why was she so cynical?

"No one loves me."

He didn't love her, but surely someone did. "Not even your family."

"Let me think, to Ozai I'm just a war weapon, to my mother I'm a monster who is to be feared and to Zuzu, I'm the little brat who had to best him at everything."

"Everyone needs somebody to love."

"Well I don't! I am strong. I don't let things like that hold me back. Now eat your lunch you Savage!"

Azula stormed off. Sokka smirked. She did have a heart. It was just buried down deep. Sokka wondered how many layers there were on top of it. Suddenly, he had the strangest idea in his head, that he was meant to find his way into her heart. Now, he's thinking crazy thoughts. There was no way that they could love each other.

* * *

They never spoke of that outburst again. Azula continued with her insults and Sokka feigned annoyance with them, but they both knew there was something deeper. Azula did start letting him out the room more frequently. She showed him the royal library and their armory, telling him the gory tales her father had told her to keep her out of there as a child. She justified her kindness by telling herself that she showed him the library to show him how much smarter they were in the Fire Nation and she showed him the armory to scare him, but underneath her tales of gore, there was a bonding going on between them. She was showing him the world in which she had been raised. It was like giving him a portal to her past.

They didn't have such things in the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka had to admit they had a diverse collection of literature and they clearly knew how to forge weapons. They told their stories orally in his tribe and they made their own weapons by hand without any special equipment. They had no blacksmiths.

Azula was baffled, not by the lack of blacksmiths, that was expected, but they didn't write down their stories?

"Surely, you have ink in your tribe."

"Of course, we can get it from the panda squids."

"Then why not write the stories down, so you remember them."

"We remember them by being told them over and over. Part of the experience is the story being recited. The best readers can do different voices, and how to keep the story engaging. It's also a bonding experience, when the elders first tell the stories to the kids, when they grow up and tell the stories to their own kids. It's apart of our culture. Didn't your family ever read you stories?"

Azula frowned. "Well, my grandfather would tell me about battles he won when he was young, and my father would read me news stories about how uncouth the Earth Kingdom people were and why I should stay away from them."

"See, the same thing," Sokka said with a smirk.

"Now you're just mocking me."

"A little bit."

She pouted.

"You're cute when I pout."

"I am NOT cute," she insisted. "I am fierce."

"Sure thing, Princess Fierce," he said with finger quotations.

He really was insufferable sometimes, with his carefree attitude, cocky smile and impossibly blue eyes.

* * *

Azula showed Sokka how to play Pai Sho. They were in the middle of a game when Ty Lee and Mai showed up.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just wondering why you haven't been around lately. Looks like you've been distracted."

"Don't be silly."

"So you play Pai Sho with slaves every day?"

"I can't have his mind going to jelly, can I?"

While Ty lee teased Azula, Mai surveyed the scene for herself. It was unusual for the princess to spend all her time with a boy, especially one from the water tribes. Maybe Ty Lee was onto something. Maybe Azula did like him.

Ty Lee wanted to go to the baths. Azula had to kick out the servants first, so they didn't see Sokka there.

He found himself in a sauna with three beautiful women all in towels. The acrobat added extra steam to the room. Sokka got lost in the fog. He felt a soft hand going towards the bottom of his towel and flinched when it touched his skin. This was not Azula. He inched away. The acrobat pursued him. When the steam cleared, he was on the ground, and she was on top of him.

Azula grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. "What part of don't touch did you not understand?"

"I was just doing a test."

"For what?"

"To see how much you like him. It seems you like him quite a deal."

"GO HOME TY LEE!" Azula was not in the mood for her little games.

"See you later 'Zula! Mai let's go."

"What was that about?" Sokka scratched his head.

"Ty Lee and her stupid theories. Let's go."

* * *

Azula seemed grumpy for the rest of the day, even more so than usual. That night, she showed up, like she did every night, but her energy was gone. She just sat on the bed, like she was unsure what to do.

"What is wrong with you?" Sokka asked her.

She didn't answer.

"You've been crabby, even for you, ever since the sauna."

"Nothing," she hissed.

"Is it Ty Lee? I was trying to get away from her when I fell."

"Like you wouldn't rather be her slave."

"Are you kidding? She scares me." He's scared of her? He must be lying, but he didn't seem like he was.

"What? Guys always like her. If anything they're scared of me."

"Well, I'm not most guys, and she's smiley, but it's too much to be real, like she's smiling because she's going to cut my head off when I turn around."

Azula cracked up. "To think the bubbly acrobat is Sokka's only fear."

He rolled his eyes. "Let's just say, I'd rather have a naughty girl than a nice one."

"Is that right?"

His lips pressed against her neck, pushing away all of her insecurities as he got her out of her kimono. She stripped him. They tussled on the bed, covering the other in kisses and bites. He kissed his way down her flesh, worshiping her body. He started to devour her, leaving her gasping for air as he explored her familiar folds.

Her hands found their way into his silky hair. It was much shinier now that she got him some proper shampoo. The brown locks twirled around her fingers as she guided him closer. He worked his long fingers inside her, curling them so that he hit her g-spot with each stroke.

She whimpered as she came for him. He hovered over her, his erection ready to pierce into her. He rolled on a condom and thrusted into her. He moved slowly, gently, wanting to savor the moment. She urged him to go faster, but he said he was in charge and this is how it was going to go. She stopped protesting, her eyes softening as she got ready to close them and relax.

She looked peaceful, angelic even. Sokka did the one thing he knew he shouldn't. He kissed her lips, taking her by surprise. She didn't even realize what was happening until she kissed him back, her hands finding his head, pulling him closer as she chewed on his lip. There was this overwhelming Azula felt when he kissed her, something she hadn't felt with any other kisser. They kissed over and over again, and after he came inside her, he kissed her one more time.

She was floored, unable to process the outpour of emotion from his kisses. She was ready to retreat into her room. He grabbed her wrist, barring her exit.

"I'm just getting started with you."

They spent all night together, kissing, touching, and making love. In the morning, she woke up to find his arms around her; his head nestled on his shoulder.

He woke up when she tried to move. He held her even tighter

"What are you doing?"

"I like having you here."

"I'm not a stuffed animal for you to cuddle."

"I know."

"I'm not a glass doll."

"I know."

"I don't need you to care about me," she lied.

"I know. I want to anyway."

"Why?"

"Because you're real. Everyone I have ever met has been, for the most part, exactly how he or she appeared to be. They are flat, two-dimensional, caricature-like if you will, but not you. You're real. Your beautiful, smart and sweet, but you can be vitriolic, ruthless and blood lusting. I never know what to expect from you because you are so complicated. The more you confuse me, the more I want to figure you out. I can only do that if you let me in."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, you're just like everyone thinks you are, cold, emotionless, flat. You're not like everyone else. You're different. Let me show you."

Before she could argue anymore, he captured her in another kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

Now able to firebend, Aang and Zuko got to work, training every day to stop Ozai. The comet was only two weeks away. Zuko asked Aang if he had a plan of attack.

"Oh, I was going to fight him after the comet. I'm not ready yet."

Zuko's eyes got huge. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"My dad is going to raze any part of the Earth Kingdom that won't surrender on that day. If you don't stop him by the comet, there won't be a world to save."

"WHAT!" Katara yelled. "Why are you just telling us now?"

"I thought you were going to stop him before the comet. No one told me he wanted to wait."

Without Sokka, the group was lost. He would come up with a plan. What would they do without him?

* * *

In Ba Sing Se, Iroh was with the White Lotus, planning an attack for Sozin's Comet. With the army distracted by their plan to take down the other cities, the world's masters got ready to liberate Ba Sing Se. Iroh heard through the grapevine that Zuko defected, and Ozai had made Azula his new heir.

"What are we going to do?" Piando asked, their numbers too small to storm both the Fire Nation capital and liberate Ba Sing Se.

"We have to leave it to Zuko to get the throne from his sister. We don't have any other choice."

Hopefully, he would survive. Iroh had already lost one son. He couldn't lose Zuko too.

* * *

Azula and Sokka were a real couple now. They never said it in those words, but she stopped chaining him, and he didn't try to run away. He still had to hide from the servants and guards, but that was pretty easy once Azula had shown him how to use the secret passageway to get from his room to hers. There was a trick for nonbenders to open the hidden doors.

Azula was afraid that Sokka would coddle her, and their sex would lose its passion. He did coddle her a little, but their coupling only intensified. He was rough with her, not because he was angry, but because he wanted to make her feel good. They could read each other, trust one another, and he knew when to be rough and when to be gentle.

She was about to go to the kitchen when she felt two strong hands pushing her onto her desk. Sokka pulled her pants down and began to squeeze her cheeks. "You have an amazing ass," he said before he slapped one of the cheeks. She growled as he continued the treatment on the other, going back and forth. "You're a very naughty girl. Time for you to get punished."

Once she was nice and rosy, he rolled on a condom and pushed his way into her wetness. She braced herself on her forearms, trying to keep her composure, but she found herself moaning uncontrollably as he thrusted hard and fast, pounding away at her as she whimpered on her own desk.

"Whose your Daddy?" he hissed as he started slamming into her, leaving her unable to speak as she felt an intense amount of pleasure overtaking her. Seconds later she started to gush. He kept fucking her until he was done, abruptly pulling out and leaving her a cum-covered mess.

"Can you get us some breakfast?" he said as he fell on the bed.

Once she recovered and cleaned herself up a bit, she did just that, going to the kitchen to get pancakes, eggs, bacon and some toast. The cook knew she couldn't eat this much herself, but he didn't ask where her extra food was going. It wasn't his business, and if she was happy and not terrorizing the servants, then why rock the boat?

She came back with a tray full of food. Sokka took it from her and set it on her table. As they ate, he asked her what it was like to grow up in the Fire Nation.

"What would you do as a child?"

"Firebending lessons, school at the royal academy, training with Lo and Li."

"What's the Royal Academy like?"

"It's pretentious like it sounds, only for those with noble blood. It's designed to teach both basic academics and things that would only involve nobles and royalty like diplomacy, political theory, and public speaking. I had also had to take classes with the royal tutor to learn how to rule."

"What kind of classes teach you that?"

"Military strategy, national security, agriculture and economics …."

"You had to learn agriculture?" He couldn't picture her farming.

"I have to know every little thing about the Fire Nation. What crops grow in what season? What are the average yields? How much grain do I need to feed everyone? There's more to the Fire Nation than waging war. I had to learn how to run the domestic side too."

In the tribe, Sokka learned by doing and by watching the men before him. They didn't have "how to be a chief" class. He wondered which way was easier. It sounded like Azula would be much better prepared to take the throne than he would be to lead his tribe right now, but the expectations for her must be so high. She was bred and trained to do this. What if she wanted something else?

"Did you ever wish you weren't a princess?"

"Why would I wish that?"

"You could probably do anything you want, but you have a set path chosen for you. Did you ever wonder what it would be like if you hadn't been born a princess and could do anything you wanted?"

"I never saw being a princess as being a trap, well at least not the way you depict it. If anything, I used to wish I could have been a prince. Everything comes so easy when you're a man. No one questions you whether you want to run for office or stay home with your kids and live off a trust fund. The world is your oyster. People expect me to be a breeder for the crown, to produce heirs and watch the men rule.

Everything I ever accomplished I had to get by fighting twice as hard just because I don't have a penis, but I think that only made me stronger. If I were a boy, I'd likely be lazy and entitled, like my brother. Being a princess isn't easy. It's luxurious, but it's constraining. I wouldn't give it away though. If I just ran away, I'd just feel like I let my country down. It's not just a divine right, it's a responsibility, and I think it's an honor."

Sokka loved moments like these, when he could pick Azula's brain and see the side of her that no one else did.

She leaned back against his chest, and his arms slipped to her waist. They would lie there, snuggled against one another until it was time to train.

* * *

Zuko and Aang trained hard in preparation for Sozin's Comet. They would have to take down both Ozai and Azula. "She'll likely be there with him," Zuko told the Avatar, who was still unnerved about how she killed him the last time they fought.

Zuko felt ready to take her on, now that he learned the true meaning of firebending. He could finally make up for all of those years where she seemed untouchable, like she was perfection. She uses control as a source, but she wouldn't control him. He found the light.

The White Lotus made preparations in Ba Sing Se to take down the Dai Li and liberate the city and Kuei. Hopefully, he was still alive. The Fire Nation didn't kill Bumi when it had taken Omashu, so why kill Kuei when he's a nonbender and likely has no fighting skills.

Piando and Iroh were having some tea. "Do you think Zuko will be able to keep order in the Fire Nation?" A lot of powerful people in the country support the war.

"He will likely need help to start off, but he is a good man and a powerful firebender. He should be able to get support from enough allies."

"What about his sister? She's pretty popular." Piando was concerned about how much energy it would take to keep him on the throne. She could always plot for a coup.

"We may need to jail her if she won't back down." Iroh thought she'd likely die fighting. She was not one to give up power to anyone.

* * *

Today, Azula had a surprise for Sokka.

"Where are we going?" He asked as he was blindfolded.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you that, now hush up!"

She led him up down a long and winding road before she took off his blindfold.

"I'm taking you somewhere I've never taken anyone before."

"Not even Mai and Ty Lee."

"I haven't even told them about it."

He grinned. Then, he saw the stairs.

"Holy Spirits, that's a lot of stairs."

"I know. Good thing you're in shape."

She started to run up them. He was quick on her tail. His legs were burning by the time they got to the top. They reached a giant stone door. Azula sent a fire blast at it, a short one, a long one and then three very short ones all in rapid fire. The door slowly started to open.

A burst of light came from the other side of the door. It was blinding. They went inside to see a whole new world. There was a giant temple. Inside was a statue of a man.

"Who is that?

"Agni, in his human form."

Sokka explored. The craftsmanship was beautiful. The temple looked almost untouched. They got to the other side and there was a gorgeous spring, a meadow, flowers everywhere a flat plain and there was a zip line that went down to the bottom.

"We can take that down, but we can't go up using it," Azula explained to him.

"This is incredible."

"Last one to the spring is a rotten egg!" Azula shoved him out the way and then ran. He chased after her, clothes flying off as they got ready to jump in the spring.

"I win!" she bragged as she landed in the water.

"You cheat!"

"Princesses don't play fair."

He dunked her. "Neither do savages!"

They splashed around, enjoying the warm water as they took in the scene around them.

"So what is this place?"

"Azulon's temple. He built it so he could have peaceful days to himself. He never invited anyone here."

"How did you find it?"

"I followed him out of the palace as a child. I thought he'd kill me when I was spotted. He made me swear not to tell anyone, and I didn't. Ozai doesn't even know about it."

"And you took me?"

"You're the first person I ever wanted to share it with."

He turned and kissed her. This just might be her way of saying that she loves him. He kissed her again and again, each kiss a little longer and a little more suggestive. Oh how he would love to take her right here, right now.

He was so happy right now, a gorgeous day, a lovely girl in his arms and all was calm and peaceful. Then, his heavy heart started to sink. The war was still going on. He was without all his friends. His father was in jail. He was here, having fun like there was no tomorrow. What kind of man did that make him? Azula could see the pain on his face.

"Don't you like it?"

"It's amazing, beyond imagination, but I feel bad being so happy, when I know my friends are fighting for their lives right now. It hardly seems fair that I get to enjoy this when they are scrambling without me."

Azula feared this moment would come. Underneath it all, she was the Crown Princess, and he was the son of Chief Hakoda. This forbidden romance would have to end.

"When Mai and Ty Lee moved away, Lo and Li told me that I had to learn to let people go. If they came back, they were truly mine. If not, then it wasn't meant to be. I thought that was stupid. Just don't let them leave, but I finally learned my lesson. I have to let you go. I can't go with you. My father will notice if I leave and who knows what he'll do, but I can get you to your friends."

"You can?"

"My spies told me where they are. I was going to have them ambushed, but I couldn't go through with it."

"Why not?"

"Because of you," she admitted. He held her in an embrace.

"What about my father?"

"Leave that to me. You only have two weeks. If you are going to win the war, you must do it before Sozin's Comet, or else there won't be a world to save."

"What?"

"My dad is going to raze any part of the Earth Kingdom that won't surrender using the comet."

"He's going to burn down the entire Kingdom?"

"Do not underestimate his ruthlessness, ever!" she cautioned harshly. Then her tone softened, "come on. We have a lot to do if we're going to get you ready in time."

"Can we at least take the zip line down?"

"Of course."

They got dressed and soared over the meadow taking another path to the palace.

Azula gave him his sword and his boomerang. "You'll need armor." She told him. She took him to a metal smith, claiming he was her gladiator and had a suit made for him, a chest piece, a shield and piece to protect his thighs. It was light but strong, hopefully enough to prevent serious burns. It took three days to have it made.

Meanwhile, she prepared him for the final battle. She gave him the schematics of the sky ships her father would use along with the plans of where they would be. "Don't let anyone see these, not even your friends. If my dad finds out they've been leaked, he'll change his plans. If anyone asks, just say you saw them, but you had to run before you could take them."

He nodded.

She also told him to lie about how he got away. "Say a servant felt bad and helped you escape. No one will trust you if they know I helped you."

He protested, but then he eventually agreed. She was probably right.

"I'll come back for you," he promised.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she cautioned. She didn't want him to die. Her voice was sad.

"I can and I will. I love you." He kissed her before she could slap his head. He wasn't supposed to say it. It's all real now that he said it.

"Don't tell anyone about us, especially not my brother."

"Why would I run into your brother?"

"He defected during the invasion. He's probably with the Avatar now." Sokka was stunned. How did he not know this? He just thought Zuko was off messing around. "Just don't let him think anything's up."

"Right."

"Seriously. He thinks I'm evil. He won't trust you if he suspects anything. Just pretend you hate me okay."

"I'll have to." He could barely remember that time now, but he'd have to fake it.

She started to explain what happened when her father confronted her after the failed Day of the Black Sun invasion. She had lied about Zuko shooting the Avatar, so that her father would end his banishment. Before she could finish her story, however, Azula got called into a meeting with her father.


	8. Chapter 8

Azula walked to her father's chambers, unsure of why he summoned her. She feigned confidence, unsure if he knew how little attention she had been paying to the war since the invasion.

Yes my Lord," she bowed upon seeing him at his chair.

"Azula, I've been doing some thinking. I need you to stay behind during the Comet."

She was glad. She wouldn't want to fight Sokka in front of her father. He'd know if she went easy on him, but she had to feign anger and disappointment, "But I was going to guide the ships while you kill the Avatar!"

"You will be coronated as Fire Lord that day. I need you to defend the Crown."

"If I'm Fire Lord, then you will be?"

"The Phoenix King!"

Wow, his ego was even bigger than Azula thought.

"Yes My Lord!"

She reported to Sokka straight away forgetting to tell him the story that the servant had interrupted.

"This is great," he told her.

"How? It's just a puppet title. My dad wants to rule everything."

"You can withdraw the troops during your father's attack on the Earth Kingdom. You can end the war, just stay calm until your coronation and remember, I'm coming back for you."

"My brother's going to flip. I'll probably have to duel him to protect the throne."

Sokka cringed. "Please, promise me. Don't fight him before I get back. We'll come up with something together. I don't want you to kill your only brother."

"So it would be okay if I had a second brother," she said dryly.

"Azula," Sokka's voice seldom got serious. This was one of those times. "He's family and hopefully he'll be my brother in law, so don't kill him."

"Aren't you presumptuous? Do you think you have what it takes to be my Fire Lady?"

He laughed. "Fire Lady? No Way. I'm going to be Fire King or Fire Warrior or Fire Man!"

"Fire Man?"

"Well Fire Gentleman is too long. How about this Prince WangFire?"

She laughed. "I think Fire Man is better than that."

They spent one last night together. He was careful not to leave any marks, knowing she would be fitted for an outfit for her coronation soon.

"Don't let me go," she cried after they were done.

"I won't." He held her all night. When the sun broke, they both woke up. He took his sword, armor, boomerang and plans.

"What will I tell people when they ask how I got the armor?"

"Say you were training to be my gladiator."

"Oh yeah!" She gave him a final kiss. She gave him a war balloon that she had stolen from the nearest military base. "Just tell your friends you stole this!"

"Yes, my Princess."

He took off for the Western Air Temple, hoping to find his friends before they left.

Azula went to Boiling Rock. She checked out Hakoda. They didn't even ask her what happened to Suki. Presumably, she was dead.

Hakoda had no idea what the Princess wanted with him. He found himself cuffed, hands and feet and led out into her war balloon.

He was ready to jump. "Whatever you want with me, I won't talk!"

"Sit down you fool! You don't know anything that I don't, and if you die, then your son will be very disappointed."

"Sokka! WHERE IS HE?"

"Sit down and shut up! Your son is fine."

They landed and she told him to get out.

"You better not attack me," she snarled. She undid his cuffs, put a white lotus tile in his hand, and then got back in her balloon.

"What are you doing?" he questioned holding the tile, unsure of what it represented.

"You're on your own, and if you tell people I freed you, I will burn down your tribe, do you understand?"

He nodded even though he didn't understand at all.

She flew off, leaving him to find his own way and to figure out what the tile meant.

Sokka found the Western Air Temple and went to land his balloon. He tried to remember what Azula had shown him, but he got confused and crashed it. "SHIT!"

They all heard the crash, and Zuko and Katara went to go investigate.

They saw his armor and yelled, "Fire NATION!" They started to attack. Sokka had to dodge a fireball aimed straight at his head.

"STOP IT!" he shouted.

"That sounded like my brother," Katara paused. "Sokka?"

"YES! Now stop trying to kill me."

She ran, jumping into his arms. "How did you find us? How did you escape?"

"One question at a time, sis!"

Zuko went and got the others. "Sokka found us!"

"SNOOZLES!" Toph came running. "Get over here you jerk!" She hugged him and then punched his arm.

Suki came out. "SOKKA!" she ran and hugged him. He was happy to see her, but knew he was in trouble as soon as she kissed him. He tried to kiss her back, but he felt like he was cheating on Azula, so he made the kiss as brief as he could without pushing Suki away.

"How did you get away?"

"Well, Azula was training me to be her gladiator and I managed to get away when one of the servants who was cleaning the arena took pity on me and let me go. I managed to steal this war balloon, and I hoped you would be here," he lied.

Zuko was amazed. "You got away from her and lived to tell the tale?"

"She trained you to be a GLADIATOR!" Katara yelled.

"Chill Sugar Queen. You're gonna make him deaf."

"It was actually a good deal for me. I learned how to fight better, and she had this armor made for me."

"Please tell me you're ready to plan," said Aang. "We got nothing!"

Over the next few days, Sokka explained what he had learned about the invasion from living in the palace. He had a plan to disable the ships and hopefully, that would give Aang a chance to take down Ozai.

They went to Ember's Island the a few days before the Comet hit, thinking no one would look for them there.

Sokka found out they were doing a play about them and she wanted to see it.

"Of course, we'll blend in at a play about us," Katara said sarcastically.

The group went and right away, Aang was annoyed with his depiction. "I'm not a GIRL!"

"SHHH!" Suki said, not having an issue with the beginning as she wasn't in it.

"The actress playing me is ugly," Katara complained.

Sokka was depicted as a meathead. Everyone else thought that was accurate. "I'm more than just a meathead," he growled.

Toph was listening to the play, thinking the depictions were hilarious, especially hers. "Did they just get a big man to play me? Haha!"

In Act II, they depicted Sokka leaving the Gaang to follow Azula.

"I'm done with these losers," he says as everyone in the audience, except Sokka and his friends, laughs.

Suki turned to him. "I know you'd never join that bitch."

Sokka cringed in his mind. "I know. She's the worst."

Zuko and Katara's characters start making out. Aang cringed. Zuko turned away and Katara was embarrassed.

"This play sounds great," Toph laughed.

When it was over, Aang tried to see how Katara felt.

"I thought after the Day of the Black Sun, we were going to be together."

"I'm confused okay," she ran off with a dramatic flair.

"What's so confusing, either she likes me or she doesn't?"

Suki pat his shoulder. "When it's right, you know, like me and Sokka."

Sokka had a smile, but Toph could tell something was off with him. He's different, she noticed. Ever since he came back, he's been different.

All seemed to be fine until Aang realized they expected him to kill the Fire Lord.

"I can't kill him!"

"You have to," Toph told him.

"He's totally evil," Katara added.

"He's my dad and I think you should off him," added Zuko.

Sokka was sympathetic, but he didn't want to sound pro Fire Nation. "Do you know how else to stop him?"

"I don't."

"Then, you only have a few days to figure it out."

Aang meditated over it, asking past avatars, but no one had anything else to say other than just kill him.

Aang went for a swim, hoping he'd figure it out.

Katara panicked when he didn't return. "Where did he go now?"

"What are we going to do?" Suki exclaimed.

Zuko suggested a bounty hunter to find Aang and Iroh. They got to Ba Sing Se. Jun couldn't find Aang. "He's gone."

"Dead?"

"No, gone! Maybe he's in the spirit world. I can't sense his presence anywhere."

Zuko reunited with his uncle. "You have to stop your sister," Iroh told him.

"After we stop Ozai."

"No, now. She's being coronated tomorrow."

"What?"

"You have to challenge her to an agni kai. I don't like it, but it's the only way." Iroh felt bad, but stopping Azula was necessary for the world. "Try not to kill her, but if you have to …"

Sokka watched the two men talk. He knew it was about Azula; it had to be. He just wished they could see her as he did, well not exactly as he did, but that they could know how much she has on her plate, how hard she fights to live up to the impossible expectations set upon her, how amazing she is despite it all. Instead, he stayed silent

Suki was excited to get Sokka back, but he hadn't even tried to kiss her. When she tried to spend more time with him, he kept her from getting physical.

"What's wrong?"

He couldn't tell her he loved another right before the comet. "I had a few fights while I was a gladiator," he lied. "I did some things I'm not proud of. I don't deserve you." The last part was true. He wasn't proud that he started a relationship with another while she waited for him, and she did deserve better.

"Don't think that! It's not your fault. It's that dreadful witch!" Sokka made sure he didn't cringe.

"I just need some time."

"I understand." She could kill Azula for what she did to him.

* * *

It was the night before Sozin's Comet. Azula was looking at the moon, wishing to Yue that Sokka would make it back in one piece.

Mai and Ty Lee spent the night, excited about her coronation.

"You're going to be Fire Lord! Aren't you excited?" Ty Lee was beaming.

Azula just frowned.

"You've wanted this your whole life," Mai questioned. "Why are you so glum?" Where was her aggressive, overly confident persona? Now she looked like a shriveled up mushroom.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'd trade it all away just to get Sokka back."

Ty Lee grinned. "I knew it. I knew you fell for him."

Mai scowled. "Ty Lee, this is not the time to get all cute and giggly and shit."

Ty Lee took a breath. "Look, he'll make it back. He has to. The Princess always gets her prince in the end."

Azula just didn't know anything anymore. She went to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Sokka, Suki and Toph went to disable the sky ships along with Appa.

They had to hope Aang would show up. They had not been able to find him since he went to "clear his head."

Zuko and Katara went back to the Fire Nation.

Azula woke up first. She didn't sleep very well at all. In an ideal world, she could just run away with Sokka and everything would work itself out, the Fire Nation, the war, their families, but she knew she was wishing for not just a miracle but also the impossible.

She would have to hope to Agni that Sokka survives this battle and she would have to defend the crown from Zuko. Sokka might be disappointed in how she does it, but she had a plan that she was confident would work. She just hoped that if and when Sokka found out what she did, he would be able to forgive her cruelty.

A few hours later, Mai and Ty Lee were getting Azula ready along with her servants.

"You look perfect, Zula!" She looked every bit as much a king as the men who had been coronated before her, well other than her breasts, but they were fairly well hidden under her binding. She did it extra tight to look less effeminite.

Azula was shaking. She had no idea how she would look her countrymen in the eye and say the war was a mistake. She was going to end it now. She had to look confident even if she didn't feel it. She practiced in the mirror, making sure she looked strong and powerful. She would get through this. She would rise to the occasion and be the leader her country desperately needed.

The Crown Princess was anxiously waiting for the Head Sage to announce her. This is it. The arena was full of people. Azula never felt stage fright before. She had practiced for weeks before she gave her first speech, but what she was about to do was unprecedented. She just hoped her people stayed on her side. She put on her game face. "It's time."

Zuko and Katara rushed to the palace. All of the guards were watching the stage, their eyes away from the princess who was behind it.

Zuko ran forward. "Not so fast. You're not getting coronated today!"

"Says who?" She folded her arms. Of course he came back with a girlfriend. Really Zuzu?

"I'm challenging you to an agni kai for the throne."

"No!"

He was ready to fight until he understood what she said. "What?"

"I refuse to fight you. I don't have to accept an agni kai challenge, and I won't accept this one."

Zuko wasn't prepared for this outcome at all. He just thought about beating her in a fight, not her refusing to fight. It was actually a genius move. If he attacked now, he'd just get arrested. There were guards all over the place. He and Katara couldn't fight them all. He had to get her to fight.

"Surely you're not afraid."

"Of you, no way, but I won't start my reign by killing my brother. Sorry. You lose."

How to bait her into fighting? "I'll take it up with the sages. Dad's reign was illegitimate."

"According to you! Even if you're right, do you want to announce to everyone what Mom did? You know the penalty for treason." If the world found out about Ursa's poisoning Azulon, then there would be an automatic bounty on her head. "I wonder how many mercenaries would try to get the cash prize."

"You wouldn't!"

"I'd put posters in every major city."

"You'd do that to Mom!"

"No, you would. So, want to talk to the sages now?"

She had him over a barrel, the crown or his mother. While he tried to figure out what to do, Azula proceeded with the ceremony. She knew he would clam up.

Katara was baffled. What does their mother have to do with this, and why are they doing nothing?

Azula knelt and received her crown. Then she stood to face her crowd. She squared up to the podium, looking tall since she was standing on a box, and she had a confident smile as she began to speak.

"100 years ago, my great grandfather set out a goal. He wanted to share the Fire Nation's glory with the rest of the world; our science, our technology, our culture, but unfortunately, he did not know much about sharing. You do not share by killing. You don't advance by destroying. Instead of pursuing trade, sending gifts, and travelling, he tried to take and take everything and make it his own!

He greedily gobbled up the world turning his citizens, my citizens into his minions. He sold our nation on a false dream, one Azulon bought into, one my father bought into, and one I bought into. It's been 100 years too long. We've lost good men. Mothers raised children without their fathers. We have all sacrificed so much and the ones who survived had to live with the horrors of war.

I wish there were words that could describe how sorry I am that my family put you all through this, and there is nothing I can do to undo that pain. The only thing I can do is to stop it now. The war is over. I am, right now, calling back all of our troops and bringing them all home, where I hope they will receive a hero's welcome for defending this crown and this nation despite my family's shortcomings.

We have a lot of rebuilding to do, in this country and in the world, and it won't be easy and it won't be fun, but I hope that our children and our grandchildren can grow up in a world without war, one where they have both of their parents at home, one where they can travel freely without being afraid of being harmed because of where they came from or who they are.

I know this is not what you expected me to hear, and I know that at least some of you doubt me right now. How could I conquer Ba Sing Se just to turn back? I always acted for what I thought was best for this Nation. This is my home. You are all my people, but I was wrong about what this country needed.

Instead of investing in infrastructure and technology to improve our lives, we focused on weapons and stealth and dominating others. Instead of capturing the world, we should have been elevating this nation, right here, and that will be my new focus, your needs all of them.

Thank you!"

Azula bowed and then stepped away. The generals in the audience heard her message loud and clear and began to call back their men.

Zuko was too busy panicking to really pay attention to what his sister had said. Katara heard her loud and clear. What the hell was going on? This girl looked nothing like the one who had shot Aang in the back. This had to be some kind of a trick. Azula retreated to the Fire Lord's chambers, her chambers, where she began to write official instructions for the military to return home.

* * *

Sokka, Toph and Suki commandeered the first sky ship and then used it to crash into the other ones. Sokka's original plan had been to launch rocks into the engine, but it was hard to get a good angle without getting fired upon and he realized he could disable the ships just as easily, if he rammed the ship at the side, so that the outside of the ship collapsed into the engine. They had fun destroying the sky ships.

While the trio celebrated their victory on Appa, Aang emerged from the water, trapped Ozai in stone and took his bending.

Sokka didn't know what Aang was doing, but it looked really cool!

Toph metalbended cuffs for Ozai, and they proceeded to the Fire Nation.

"Should we go to Boiling Rock first and jail him?" Toph questioned.

"No," Sokka insisted, "to the palace!"

"What? Why?" Suki demanded to know.

Sokka needed a good excuse. "Because he might have too many connections in Boiling Rock. We need to figure out where we can take him, so he won't escape."

"Good thinking!"

Sokka sighed in relief. Good thing Toph couldn't tell if he was lying right now.

The White Lotus liberated Ba Sing Se. Iroh was hopeful that everything else went, as they needed it too. He had no word on the avatar yet or on the Fire Nation.

He needed to have some tea and try to relax. It was out of his hands now.

Hakoda came to see him.

"Chief, sit down!" The man had just arrived this morning.

"Have you seen my son?"

"He was here with Zuko and the others last night. Why?"

"I didn't know what happened to him after I went to jail."

"How did you get out?"

Hakoda needed a lie. "They were transferring me to another prison, and I escaped when the guard wasn't looking."

"That is fortunate. Yes, he and your daughter are fine, well they were. Hopefully, they still are. Katara went with Zuko to stop Azula's coronation."

"Can they do that? What if she just has them arrested for trespassing or something?"

"No. She will accept the duel. She's too bloodthirsty not to. I just hope Zuko won!"

Sokka practically jumped off Appa when they landed and ran to the palace. Suki chased after him. "Where are you running to?"

He got to Azula's room, but it was empty. "Where is she?"

Suki was right behind him. "You can't just run in here. Who knows where Azula is." She might kill him.

Sokka had to tell her the truth. "Suki, we need to talk."

Toph kept her eye on Ozai, since she seemed to be the only one who remembered he was their prisoner. Aang went looking for Zuko. Where is he?

He found Katara first. "Katara, we did it. I took Ozai's bending."

"Finally, some good news!" She hugged him.

"What? Where's Zuko?"

"Arguing with his sister. We couldn't stop her coronation. She was crowned and then she pulled back the troops."

"She did what?"

"She ended the war on her own. We don't know why."

Aang and Katara tried to get into the Fire Lord's chambers, but Mai and Ty lee wouldn't let them in.

"This is royal family business!"

Inside, Zuko and Azula debated birthright vs. work ethic. Azula called him lazy and unprepared. He said she was cruel and spiteful. "Face it, I'm the rightful heir."

"Face it, I have the crown on my head."

"Iroh won't let you do this. He'll challenge Ozai's claim to the throne, aka your claim to it."

"I'd like to see him try. He did nothing for six years. He's lazier than you are!"

As the siblings yelled, Suki screamed and threw things at Sokka.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall in love with her. It just happened."

"All this time I thought she was torturing you, and you were fucking that Fire Nation whore!"

"She's not a whore. Okay, she did make me her slave, but she just didn't know how to love."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but we had to end the war, that had to come first."

He had to get to Azula. He took off looking for her, leaving Suki sobbing on the girl's bed.

He reached the Fire Lord's chamber. "I need to see Azula, now!"

"She's busy," Mai told him.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: I promise the smut isn't totally gone. I just wanted to get the plot rolling first.

* * *

"Wait, she'll want to see him," Ty Lee added. She went inside. "Sokka's here."

Azula let him in. Katara and Aang rushed inside before Mai could stop them.

Sokka grabbed her, his hands holding her arms as she stared into his eyes. "Tell me you didn't duel him."

"I promised I wouldn't. He just doesn't get it." Before she could tell Sokka what she had done instead, Zuko exploded.

"You made her promise not to fight me? Why would you do something so stupid?"

"I didn't want her to kill you, dummy. You're welcome."

"Without a duel, how can I challenge her for the throne?"

Sokka stared right at him. "She can run the country."

"Are you crazy?" Katara yelled at him. "You would pick Azula over Zuko?"

"How many people does the Fire Nation have in its borders?" he asked the prince.

Zuko shrugged.

"How many people does it have in its colonies or in the world?"

Zuko again couldn't answer.

"How much grain does it take to feed them all for a week?"

"What is with these stupid questions?"

"These stupid questions are what a Fire Lord needs to know. You don't have the answers. Azula does. She knows how to feed people, how to keep them employed, and how to defend the borders. While you were goofing around in the Earth Kingdom looking for Aang, she was learning how to lead. She finished school, she worked alongside her father's council, she lead when he threw a hissy fit and refused to leave his chambers for a week straight.

Face it, if you weren't older and holding a dick between your legs, we wouldn't be having this conversation. What makes you more qualified than she is? You both started off on the wrong side of the war. You both had a change of heart. The only difference is, she didn't flip flop around, and she is adequately educated."

Zuko was fuming. How dare this water tribe jackass tell him he is unfit to run his country? Aang was confused. How did Sokka know Azula so well? Katara was wondering who she was looking at. Her brother was such an alpha male. He would never defend a woman's right to rule, Azula's of all people.

"There's no way she can lead," Katara said once the shock wore off. "The world will never trust her."

"It will be a bumpy road, but she won't be alone. She'll have me."

What?

He stepped forward. "If she'll take me." He handed her gift, an Azula doll wearing her uniform. It was a limited edition conqueror doll that they were selling in Ba Sing Se before the White Lotus took it back. "Will you be my girl?"

"You really do love me." It was the first doll she ever liked.

She pulled him into a kiss, making Katara gasp, Zuko damn near faint, and Aang blabber like a fool.

"Of course I will," she said after she took the doll.

Everyone watched in confusion. How long have they been together? Why did Sokka really leave after the invasion? Could there have been any truth to the play?

"Wait," Aang said finally breaking the silence. "We left Toph alone with Ozai!"

Everyone ran out to see the former Fire Lord with a metal brace covering his mouth.

"He wouldn't shut up!"

Azula scrambled to figure out where to detain him. She was also worried about Boiling Rock, but Toph said she could make special cuffs that he couldn't break during the night. They chained his leg, so if he did get away, it would be without his foot. She'd get some new guards for him tomorrow.

* * *

When the troops were withdrawn, Iroh was sure Zuko had won. "It's all over," he said proudly, but when he heard Azula made the order, he was baffled. "She what?"

Azula had been coronated, despite Zuko's objection, and she ended the war herself.

"Why would she do that?" He was ready to go to the Fire Nation and figure out what was going on. Even if she was done fighting the war, there was no way she would make an acceptable Fire Lord. She has no respect for other people, much less the other nations.

Hakoda joined him. "I have a feeling Sokka has some explaining to do." The chief confessed that Azula let him out and told him to lie. "She wouldn't say why, but she mentioned my son."

"She let you out of jail?"

"And she just took me out, gave me this," he showed Iroh the tile. "It was my only clue to finding you all.

She knew about the White Lotus? "Why would she help you?"

"I have no idea. It has to have something to do with Sokka. Nothing else makes sense. I don't know her at all." The Chief had been trying to think of a reason but nothing had made sense to him.

When Iroh and Hakoda got to the palace, they were not allowed inside. Iroh was detained as he had been declared a traitor by his brother. They were unsure of what to do with Hakoda because he had not been declared anything. When Azula didn't bring him back to jail, the warden assumed he had been tortured to death and deleted him from the record, as if he had never been captured.

Inside the was a mess inside. Lines had been drawn. Sokka, Mai and Ty Lee all stood by Azula as the better ruler for the Fire Nation. As expected, Katara, Suki and Toph all stood by Zuko.

Zuko and Mai were bickering. "You know how crazy my sister is! You really think she can rule."

"She has had some problems, but she's a good leader and she will stick with this no matter how tough it gets, unlike a certain prince who has a pencant for running away."

"You're siding with her because I DUMPED YOU!"

"I'm siding with her for several reasons, but your cowardice is a reason that's in the forefront. You break up with me in a note. You wait to confront your father until he's bending is gone, and you leave your sister to fight him in an agni kai while you're making a getaway. You really think you have what it takes to rule a nation?"

"Azula fought a what?"

Aang was trying to mediate. He didn't think it was his place to decide what was a royal family dispute, where his friends demanded that he stop Azula some how. Unlike her father, she was not using force. He wouldn't fight someone who wasn't fighting back.

"My Lord," a guard came in, disrupting the yelling match. "Your uncle is outside. Should we bring him to jail?"

All eyes were on Azula. What would she do with him and with Zuko for that matter?

"Bring him here."

"What should we do with the water tribesman with him?"

It must be Hakoda. "Bring him here as well."

Minutes later, both men were led inside.

"You are dismissed."

The guards froze. She stared. Don't make her say it again. The guards bolted.

Katara was ecstatic to see her father. "Dad you're free again!" She ran and hugged him.

"It's good to see you too, Dear. What's going on here?"

Katara's smile disappeared. "Sokka has lost his mind!"

"I have NOT!"

The two siblings started bickering. Iroh and Hakoda still had no idea what had actually happened.

"You're going to be with the girl whose family had our mother killed? What would she think?"

Sokka was furious. Their mother had absolutely nothing to do with this. "She would want me to be happy. She would want me to live in a world where people were judged based on who they are, not what country they were from. If the world was like that then, she'd still be alive."

Iroh and Hakoda were staring blankly. Sokka and Azula a couple? When the hell did this happen?

"Uncle Iroh!" Zuko looked up at him. "This is ridiculous. Azula refused to get into an agni kai with me, and she won't give up the crown."

Iroh was shocked. Azula refusing to fight. She loves to take down whomever is standing in her way. What is going on? "I can't say I want to encourage violence, especially between siblings, but I am kind of lost here."

"You're lost," Aang growled. "I thought we would be celebrating right now. Ozai is in jail. Azula withdrew the troops. The war is over, but this mess is just beginning and I just … I don't want to do this right now!" Aang stormed off.

Toph went after him. "Someone's got to calm down Twinkle Toes."

Everyone started talking about whom should rule and Iroh wanted some backstory on what the heck was going on. "Can we start from the beginning?"

No one knew where that was. Everyone turned to Sokka and Azula. The two lovers stared at each other. Sokka started to explain.

When we invaded, I asked Azula where Suki was, and she said in jail, but she wouldn't tell me which one. She said she'd let Suki go if I stayed behind, and I didn't believe her, but I went along with it anyway, figuring I could at least learn something about the Fire Nation while I was here and the invasion wouldn't be a complete waste.

To my surprise, she made good on her word and I was to do Azula's bidding while Suki went to find the rest of the Gaang.

While I stayed here, I came to realize that Azula's not who everyone thought she was. She's not just a firebending prodigy or a military strategist or a super villain, but she's a really cool girl who's just misunderstood." Zuko rolled his eyes. Mai stepped on his toe with her stiletto.

"We fell in love, but if she ran away with me, Ozai would have had her killed, so she did everything she could to help us win while staying behind and keeping her father oblivious. She got me the armor, the schematics of the sky ships and the map of their route, the war balloon and she told me where to find you all. She knew no one would believe she changed, so we made up the story about me being a gladiator to explain the armor and stealing the war balloon to explain how I got it.

She wouldn't fight Zuko because I asked her not to fight him. This family fights too much. The world has been fighting too much, and I didn't see the point in one more duel where he would probably die. How can we start a reign of peace with violence between siblings?

We shouldn't be at each other's throats right now. Yes this is messy and there's a lot to be worked out, but we just ended a war that's been going on for 100 years. Absent Aang, none of us have ever seen the world without war in it. Can't we pop open some champagne or something?"

Iroh was blinking rapidly. Azula falling in love with Sokka, it sounded ridiculous, but they got married, it just might be the thing to bring stability to the world after the war. It would be the basis of an alliance between the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation. The next Fire Lord would be of both nations, which would give the tribes a lot of assurance that the war would not be restarted. It wouldn't be enough to get the world to trust her, but it could be enough to prevent international chaos. However, what if this was just Azula's ploy to prevent her interest in the throne? Aang would be less inclined to support a plan to remove her with Sokka on her side. Sokka could just be the dummy she's stringing along. Iroh wouldn't be able to prove anything right away. His best option for now was to go along with it and keep a close eye on her.

"I suppose he's right. We can work this out tomorrow."

What?" Zuko complained. "You're the one who said I have to stop Azula; she's crazy!"

"Well, she doesn't seem crazy now." Damn it Zuko. You need to learn when to shut up. "What's one more day to think this over?" Iroh was trying to buy time.

Ty Lee called for a servant to get the champagne. Azula took Sokka's sword and showed him how to open the bottle with it.

POP! Champagne everyone!

"Can I try?" Sokka asked.

"No!" Everyone yelled at him.

"We'll practice outside tomorrow." Azula kissed his cheek.

Toph got Aang to come back. "Look, Gramps is here. He'll sort out this family feud. Let's get some bubbly and not worry about it."

"Monks don't drink."

"I think we can make an exception for tonight, Twinkle Toes."

Everyone tried to relax tonight, but the tension was still high. People divided across the table. Hakoda and Iroh tried to be the fathers of the group, keeping things under control. The chief wanted a word with his son.

Sokka expected to get told off, but his father's words surprised him. "When I went off to fight, I was so scared about how it would affect you and Katara. What if the Fire Nation attacked and I wasn't there? I was so afraid I would lose you too, but now, I'm not looking at the little boy I left behind.

I'm looking at a good man with a good head on his shoulders. You took a bad situation and made it work. Without you, the Earth Kingdom might be ash right now. Remember that when people doubt you because you will have doubters. Just follow your instincts and keep yourself calm."

"Thanks Dad!"

"Also, your girlfriend is pretty scary, pretty and scary I mean"

Sokka laughed. "I would say her bark is worse than her bite, but her bite is pretty bad."

"I don't need to know about that."

"Dad EW!"

Iroh tried to console Zuko. "I tried so hard to turn this around, to stop my father from taking over the world, just to come home and be told that I'm not competent to rule."

Iroh wasn't prepared for this turn of events. Who would have thought Azula would just change her mind and say world domination, not so much? "You are a good man, Zuko, and sometimes being a good man means waiting for your time to shine. It might not be today or tomorrow, but acting rashly will not help."

Zuko sighed. Iroh's words made sense, but he could feel it all slipping away. She had the positioning that she needed. She planned this much better than he had.

Sokka was tired. He had a long day, and the battle this morning had only been the beginning. Azula saw him and invited him to come to bed.

"Can we just sleep tonight?"

"Yes, Fire Man. Let's go."

She insisted he take a bath first and after that, they climbed into bed and went to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Azula and Sokka slept easily, but many others in the palace did not fare as well. Zuko tossed and turned. Suki sobbed. Katara was just pissed off, and Aang wondered if the waterbender would ever notice him.

In the morning, Sokka woke up to a now familiar feeling. He kissed Azula's face, just as she was waking up.

"Good morning."

He had a grin on his face. She turned and kissed him. They sank under the sheets to celebrate his return.

Azula covered him in kisses, starting with his lips and working her way down his chest and stomach, to his hips and bit his thigh.

He twitched at the sharp feeling of teeth sinking in his flesh.

She wrapped her fingers round his erection and started to suck on the head.

"Welcome home," she said after popping him out of her mouth.

He pulled her up, so she was on top of him and then flipped them both over, pinning her arms over her head as he left kisses and bite marks all over her body. She quivered with anticipation as he got ready to have his way with her.

He put on a condom and they battled for position. He wanted to be on top and so did she. Eventually, Azula let him win, for now.

He thrust himself inside of her and grabbed her hips, holding them as he started to thrust.

Azula grabbed onto his shoulders and started necking him. He leaned in to get closer and she wrapped her legs around his hips. When he least suspected it, she flipped them, pinning his shoulders down as she began to ride him.

Iroh woke up with the sun; hopeful that today would be the end of the fighting. He started to meditate, wondering if Agni had anything to say. If he did, the sun spirit did not share his wisdom with Iroh. The prince went to see if the rest of the family was awake. He was hoping they could settle this without any distractions from their friends.

Zuko was awake and when Iroh went to check on Azula, she was clearly awake, but not prepared to discuss the matter with him. Upon hearing what sounded like a komodo rhino rutting, he decided not to try and talk to her. Instead, he requested the sages meet them in an hour.

"Where's Azula?" Zuko growled.

"She's a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Doing what?"

"Well…" Iroh's silence was an answer.

"EW!"

"You asked."

"I shouldn't have."

It was nice to be able to reach her breasts and have her do most of the work. Sokka started to pinch and pull on her nipples; she growled as she rocked her hips back and forth.

"OH! SOKKA! OOHHHHHH!" It wasn't long until she felt her release. Sokka was right behind her. They collapsed on the mattress, resting until they heard a knock on the door.

Before Azula could ask who it was, one of her servants entered the room. "The Sages will be here in 45 minutes, my Lord." She left quickly.

Azula had to get ready. This was it. She drew her bath and was about to wash herself, when she felt strong hands on her body.

"Let me," he growled as he roamed her sensitive flesh. After their bath, Azula got dressed, wearing her formal robes and putting her hair in its infamous topknot. Sokka put on some of the Fire Nation clothing that she had previously bought for him.

"What's this meeting about?"

"This is when Zuko whines to the Sages and tries to get them to make him Fire Lord."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"I'd like that, but I think this is a strictly Fire Nation meeting." Azula kissed him. "My servants will get you anything you need and I'll come back when I can."

"I love you," he said as he kissed her before she left.

"I love you too, Savage!" She left.

Sokka rolled his eyes.

Azula went to the conference room. She had about ten minutes before the sages were to arrive.

"You got dressed up for this?" Zuko was wearing his casual clothes.

Azula was presenting herself as a ruler; she had to at least look like one.

Iroh came back with some tea. "Try not to make a scene."

Azula nodded. She would keep her composure.

When the sages did arrive, the Head Sage asked what was the purpose of the meeting. Iroh realized he hadn't told them in the message.

"Forgive me for that. We need you to help us settle a dispute for the throne."

"Between?"

"Zuko and Azula."

"I'm the first born!" Zuko whined, "and Ozai's reign was illegitimate. It means nothing that he named her his heir."

Azula was quiet. The sages didn't ask for an argument. Surely, they knew or at least suspected that Ozai caused Azulon's death.

The Sages took a minute, or well several minutes, to confer. They came back and said, "First, we are concerned that the throne would become a game of musical chairs. If Ozai took the throne, gave it to Azula just for us to go back and say, Ozai never should have had the throne, give it to you and you gave it to Zuko, that would be four different Fire Lords in the course of a week. It would make the royal family look weak and the legitimacy of the Fire Lord would be in question. I must caution you all that the world is watching the throne very carefully, both domestically and abroad. I would think this would be a poor course of action."

Azula was ready to speak. "What can you tell us about our position domestically? Allies, rivals?"

"Well, your announcement yesterday was quite a shock and there have been whispers about the trustworthiness of your bloodline, but most people recognize that your line is chosen to rule." He added the last part quickly, not wanting to anger the fiery princess.

"So a public dispute over the throne, whether it be in a duel or in court would make matters even worse?"

"Precisely."

"Fine, let's not argue then. Let's move forward."

"Really, Azula you mean that?" Zuko was surprised she was willing to call a truce.

"Why wouldn't I? I don't want to argue. I want to get my country in order."

"So when will you abdicate?"

"What are you nuts? I'm not abdicating anything. I meant this was time for you to give up. It makes much more sense to work with me and stop squabbling."

Zuko was livid. Of course that's what she meant by settle the truce. The two siblings started to stare each other down.

By the end of the meeting, it was clear that the sages backed the Princess. In order for her to avoid a global incident however, she would need to make some type of deal with the other world leaders. Hakoda was already in the Fire Nation as was Aang. They were already at quorum and if the three of them could agree on a course of action, they could have a majority right now.

The older Prince had a heavy heart when he did this, but he suggested that they pursue a deal with the other nations as things were now.

Zuko stormed off before his uncle could explain. How could Iroh betray him like this?

Before Iroh went to try to talk to him, he needed to have a word with Azula.

The Princess was stunned. Why would Iroh take her side? He never had before.

The two met privately in the Fire Lord's office.

"I've never trusted you Azula," Iroh admitted, "and I'm not sure if I should trust you now, but the Fire Nation has a lot of hard work ahead of it and it needs to be led by a united royal family. It won't work with you and Zuko at each other's throats. The sages have made their decision, even if they haven't said it to Zuko's face, and taking this to court would not only be an embarrassment to the crown, but it might even put Ursa in danger." If Iroh knew about Azula's previous threat regarding the former princess, his tone didn't reveal it.

"What do you want me to do?" His support must come at a cost; the question was how much did he want?

"I want you to think long and hard about what you can do to gain the rest of the world's trust, which I'm sure will include military sanctions and some type of power distribution to prevent future Fire Lords from attempting such a war."

"But how is that even feasible. To start this war, Sozin needed the backing of the nobility, and he just killed everyone who refused and gave the titles to people would. What would stop a future Fire Lord from putting similar pressure on whomever has a vote?"

Iroh frowned. He wasn't sure exactly. "I don't know, but we need to offer the world something other than our word. Lastly, I want you to find a way to include Zuko in your new government."

Azula pursed her lips. "How can I work with someone who always storms out when he doesn't get his way?" His temper is going to be the death of him.

"I don't know either. When you're the Fire Lord, you get stuck trying to figure these things out."

Touche.

Azula started to think about what she needed to do both domestically and with foreign relations. She needed to shore up our allies, find out who is whispering about us and either impress them or scare them into shutting up, decide which cabinet members should stay and who should go, work on domestic issues: employment, education, national security and food supplies.

She had several foreign negotiations she was going to have to accomplish starting with armistice treaties and also reparations, immigration, emigration as well as trade agreements. This was so much. She needed to appoint people to stuff now. She went to her first go to option, Mai and Ty Lee.

Sokka was a bit stir-crazy in Azula's chambers, even though they were quite nice. He decided to take a good look around the palace. He was walking down the hall when he heard Ty Lee and Mai laughing.

"I never thought I'd see the day, Azula in love. She was a mess when Sokka was gone." Ty Lee was playing with her hair.

Mai had a more stoic look on her face, but she still had a smirk. "She's been so much nicer lately. He better not break up with her or else I think it will be like a volcanic eruption."

"I think the only thing that's been erupting lately is Mt. Sokka."

Sokka turned beet red.

"You are such a pervert!"

"I know. He's so hot. No wonder Azula wouldn't share."

"I can't believe you tried to get her to share her boy toy. She never shares anything."

"I knew she's say no, but I wanted to see how much she liked him. She only deals with her emotions if you make her."

"That's why you tried to grope him in the sauna?"

"Yep, and it worked. They actually got together that night."

Mai heard a soft noise, which was Sokka's chuckle. She threw her knife, making Sokka duck. "You caught me!"

Ty Lee grabbed him and pulled him into the room. "Perfect, now we can interrogate you," she said cheerfully.

"About what?"

"Whatever Azula hasn't told us about your relationship."

While Ty Lee was peppering the poor boy with questions, his sister was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

She had woken up, ready to start the day when she remembered the night before. Her brother not only declared his love to the most evil girl on Earth, but he supported her bid to run the Fire Nation. She conquered Ba Sing Se, almost killed Aang and enslaved him, but Sokka didn't seem to care about any of it. Had she brainwashed him? That must be it; he must have lost his mind here. Maybe she could heal him with her waterbending.

Suki woke up with red puffy eyes. She felt horrible. She knew in her heart of hearts that Sokka would escape the palace, come find her and they would live happily ever after, but somehow, he fell in love with that whore, she let him go just for him to come find her and her she was, alone and depressed in her rival's palace. The war cost Suki her village, her freedom, her warriors, her boyfriend and what was left of her self-respect. She was pathetic.

While she sat alone, Toph came to see her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!"

"I can tell you're sad. Want to talk about it?"

Suki shook her head.

"That's okay." Toph was just about to leave when Suki started rambling. "I CAN'T BELIEVE SOKKA DID THIS TO ME!"

"I guess she does want to talk about it," Toph sat down.

"He told me he felt happy with me, for the first time since Yue died. When he told me he was going with Azula, so I would be freed, I was terrified, but I had to believe in him because he believed in me, and now, he's in love with HER! She took my freedom, my warriors, my self-respect and my BOYFRIEND!"

Toph had liked Sokka too. How did the boy get so much attention? "I know it hurts, but Sokka's a dum dum. You're a great girl and look at it this way. Azula is probably a lifetime of misery. You don't want a boy who's dumb enough to choose to be miserable."

"He chose misery over me," she cried and kept sobbing.

Toph was screwed. Nothing she said would make Suki feel better.

Azula rescued Sokka from Mai and Ty Lee and suggested that he meet with his father about making an armistice agreement with the Fire Nation. She wanted to get it out of the way so that Hakoda's men could be released from jail.

Once he was gone, she sat down with Mai and Ty Lee and asked them to both join her cabinet, Mai as her Minister of State, aka the Nation's top diplomat and Ty Lee in charge of community relations, making sure that the Crown stayed popular and respected amongst the nobility and the people. They both agreed and she said she would work out their salaries within the week

Azula was hesitant to take up Iroh's proposal, but she realized that the sooner she got him on board, the better it would be for the Crown and by extension, the country.

"Hey Zuko, I have a proposition for you." She offered to reinstate him as the Crown Prince and to make him the Minister of Defense, charging him with managing the military withdrawal post-war and quashing rebellions.

He was surprised she was offering him anything; this was likely Iroh's doing, but he accepted it. It was better than risking getting completely shut out of the Crown affairs, and he would have the chance to make his own allies and acquire some power in his own right.

Now that this was done, it was time to get cracking. "Here's your first test," Azula told him. "Mai is working on the armistice deal Chief Hakoda. Once it's done, make sure his men get relased and than any naval officers watching the tribe are on their way back home."

Zuko got right to it.

"Change into something more respectable first," she chided.

"I'm proud of you," Iroh told her.

"For what. I'm sure we're going to butt heads the whole time," and the last word is mine.

"I know, but this is your chance to actually be siblings. You both have things to contribute to the country and to this family."

"You are such a sap!" Azula was hoping this hire wouldn't bite her in the ass. Who knew what foolishness Zuko might be up to.

There were no troops or settlements there, which made that part easy. They just had to arrange to get all of the POWs in the Fire Nation out. Sokka and Hakoda made a list of men who had been captured during Day of the Black Sun. Mai said she'd figure out where they all ended up, and they would send release papers for them today and arrange for their transport home.

It was a pretty short agreement detailing that the war was over, there would be no acts of aggression from either side and all POWs would be released. Culpability reparations, sanctions and war crimes prosecutions would be resolved on a later date.

Mai took a copy of for her boss to sign. She reviewed it and gave her signature. "Good job. We just got to do this three more times."

"Right."


	12. Chapter 12

Sokka and Hakoda were just getting ready to crack open some whiskey when Katara came in.

"Sokka there you are."

"You've been looking for me?" Why?

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, that you didn't have any injuries or anything from yesterday." She really wanted to see if there was evidence of Azula hurting him.

"No, well other than me almost breaking my leg, but almost doesn't count."

"You don't need a once over?"

"Is this your way of showing that you care? Well, okay."

She checked him for injuries. "What are these scratch marks?" They went down his back.

Hakoda turned beet red. "Uh, I wouldn't worry about those."

"Did Azula bite you?" She saw a mark on his chest.

"Um, don't worry about that either." Sokka said nervously.

She waterbended them away and then started to check his head.

"There's nothing wrong with my head. What are you doing?"

She couldn't see any trauma like she had in Jet. "I don't believe it."

"What that I'm okay?"

"That's what I don't believe."

"Huh!"

"Come on! Azula must have done something to you."

"That's what this is about! She's not hurting me!"

"So you're just bonkers?"

"Can't you just be happy for me!"

"No I CAN'T. OUT OF ALL OF THE STUPID, RIDICULOUS, AND BIZARRE THINGS YOU HAVE EVER DONE, this takes the cake. She's ruthless, homicidal, evil and did I forget sociopathic yet you are determined to be with her and help her become Fire Lord?"

"She doesn't need my help. Zuko gave up his bid for the Crown."

"He what? No! Dad, why didn't you try and stop them?"

"This isn't our country. It would be like them trying to decide if I should be chief. Katara, we have to make the best of it."

"What was this Sokka your chance to play King? She's dangerous."

"No, she isn't. Why did you want Zuko to win so badly? So you could be his Fire Lady?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

"Why not? I see the way you look at him. Why is it okay for you to pine after the prince, but I can't be with the princess."

"You DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" she stormed off angrily.

Sokka sighed. "I don't want to fight her Dad. Katara means a lot to me, but I can't lose Azula. Did everyone support you and Mom when you got married?"

"Almost. My Dad was the only one who didn't like her at first."

"Really, Grandpa? Why?"

"Your mother was so sweet, he was convinced it was an act, and he just wanted to marry the future chief. He didn't realize it was how she was until she patched him up after he cut his hand working. People are imaginative. Sometimes they invent crazy explanations for things that are simple. It's clear that you and Azula care a great deal for each other. If you didn't, I doubt she would have sprung me from jail, but that's hard for Katara to see in light of their history. Let her take time and wrap her head around it. My dad came around, and it ended up being a waiting game."

Katara stormed off. Aang noticed her but she was gone before he could say anything. Toph tried next, "What's wrong Sugar Queen!"

"Stuff it TOPH!" she was gone.

"Damn, she's not so sweet today."

Toph found Aang, who asked if she knew what was wrong with Katara?

"PMS?"

"What?"

"Never mind, Twinkle Toes. I have no idea."

"Want to go play outside?"

"Sure."

The two went out, eager now that they had the time.

Zuko was on his way to the garden when he heard yelling. He found Katara sitting by herself.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she grumbled.

"You don't look fine. I mean not that you aren't _fine_." She looked at him as if he were from outer space. "You know what I mean!"

She laughed at him. "You're such a dolt!"

"Who are you, Azula?" he teased.

Her smile disappeared.

"Still baffled by her and Sokka."

"What would he want with _her_?"

"I have no idea. My sister is bossy, nasty, arrogant and had a mean streak that runs from here to Ba Sing Se, yet she's the Fire Lord, and I'm the Defense Minister, whoop de doo."

"Why didn't you fight her?"

"The sages took her side. They wanted more stability for the throne, which makes sense, but seriously, Azula. She just turned 15 last month!"

"She's only a year older than me? I assumed she was older, given her well ruthlessness."

"No, she's a teenage terror."

The two laughed.

"I just don't get how he left Suki for her."

Zuko thought Suki was sweet and cute. "Maybe he just likes bad girls?"

"Ugh! More like he likes crazy girls." She looked at Zuko. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bashing your sister in front of you."

"It's alright. She spent most of her life insulting me, one upping me and now, she's my sovereign. Ozai always said I was lucky to be born and she was born lucky. I'm beginning to believe him."

"Don't. You worked hard to be where you are now. You don't need luck when you can make your own."

The group all had dinner together. Azula sat at the head of the table with Sokka on her right and Mai and Ty Lee on her left. Next to Sokka was his father, then Katara, Aang, Toph and Suki. On the other side of Ty Lee was Iroh and then Zuko. There were several conversations going on at once. Sokka was talking to Azula, while Zuko was talking to Katara, Mai and Ty lee were having a conversation while Iroh was talking to Hakoda. Aang was just excited to eat. Toph was too and Suki just wept.

Finally, she got up and just abandoned the dinner. Azula looked up but said nothing.

"What's wrong with her?" Aang was oblivious to the love triangle.

"She's distraught," Katara said glaring at her brother.

He gulped. He was the reason why. He felt bad for her, but he wasn't in love with her. Nothing he could do would fix that for her.

"Maybe she'll feel better tomorrow. The warriors should be out of jail by then," Azula said as she continued eating.

"Are you serious?" Katara yelled at her.

"Why wouldn't I be? Most people would feel better if their friends were out of jail."

"She's not upset over her friends (maybe she is). She's upset that you stole her boyfriend."

"I didn't steal anything. He's a man, not a watch."

"You pretty much did steal him Azula," Ty Lee told her, "not that I blame you. He's cute."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Glad to know if he's cute, it's okay."

"I think it is."

"Who would be upset about losing an ugly boyfriend?"

"I think it's more about supply and demand," Ty Lee explained. "The cuter the boyfriend, the higher the demand, so the more valuable the time you have with him is, but there's a greater risk of losing him to another girl."

"So she assumed the risk of needing to be more vigilant," Mai elaborated.

"Exactly."

"He's not an economics chart," Azula retorted.

"Although if you could chart attractiveness to risk level, I bet I could make a killing selling relationship advice."

"Glad to know your innovative," Mai told Ty Lee.

Azula snorted.

"Glad someone finds this funny," Katara growled.

"I find most things mildly amusing, like that hideous face you make when you're mad. It's like your possessed or something."

Sokka mimicked it, i.e. he twisted his face as much as possible. Azula bust out laughing.

"Let me impersonate someone," Ty Lee said. She put her hair in a topknot with two strands in front. "Mai pretend to be Zuko."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Whatever!"

"Zuko, I have a secret for you."

Mai leaned in.

Ty Lee slapped her in the face and started laughing.

Everyone froze. Azula glared at them and then cracked a smile. "That was very good. I used to do that all the time. Hey Zuko, I have a secret for you!" She pantomimed slapping him and started laughing.

"You were such a nice sister," Zuko growled.

"It's not my fault you fell for it 10 times. The first time, I understood, maybe the second, but you always came back for more."

"It's because he's such a gossip. His desire for secrets was higher than the fear of you slapping him." Ty Lee told her.

"I am NOT a gossip."

"You're worse than Lady Shira." Azula told him.

"Wait a minute," Iroh said. "No one is worse than Lady Shira, although Zuko is pretty bad."

"HEY!"

"What? Everyone in this family gossips."

"Does anyone not gossip?"

"We tried to avoid it in the Air Nation, to try and minimize conflict."

"How sad? I would have been so bored during school if I couldn't gossip when the teacher was writing on the board." Ty Lee didn't understand a gossip free nation.

"To think, you could have tried taking notes," Mai said dryly.

"Why would I do that?"

Azula laughed. "You are one of a kind, Ty Lee."

"But I have six identical sisters."

"You have six identical sisters?" Hakoda questioned.

"Maybe in appearance, but none of them are you. You are special."

"Like in talented or like in special ed?"

"Mostly like in talented."

"Azula!" Iroh scolded.

"What? She has a handicap. It's called boy-crazy syndrome."

"Is that real?" Ty Lee questioned.

Mai slapped her head.

"Hey!"

The three girls debated the seriousness of Ty Lee's disease. What started off sounding like a serious conversation ended with making faces, name calling and finger-pointing. The rest of the table watched the Fire Lord act like well, a 15-year-old girl. It was shocking. Azula had never acted her own age.

"She even learned to change her own diaper," Iroh commented.

"What are we going to do with you?" Mai questioned.

"Clearly, we need to find her a man," Azula answered.

"Can we throw a party?" Ty Lee questioned.

"For what?" Mai asked.

"End of the war," Sokka offered. "You could invite the world's leaders, have a big ball or something."

"Foreign cuties," Ty Lee gushed.

Azula and Sokka looked at each other and laughed. "Do you have any friends you could set her up with? If I don't find her a savage, she might kidnap you."

"Sokka is not a savage," Katara growled at her.

"He eats like one," Toph laughed. "I can see that, and I'm blind."

"His table manners have improved greatly," Azula told Toph.

"You did slap my hand every time I got sloppy."

"And it worked. But seriously, we should throw a party. I can't remember the last time the palace had one."

The four carried on the conversation after dinner in Azula's new chambers.

"This room is so cool!" Ty Lee said as they came inside. "Remember when it was Azulon's and we used to sneak in here?"

"What was Azulon like?" Sokka asked her.

"Strict. He was no nonsense, had no time for those he thought incompetent and was a celebrated firebender."

"So he would be you if I turned you into a grandfather."

"Haha!" Azula said dryly. "Well, he did have a penchant for concubines, so I can't say we're that different."

Sokka pulled her to the seat next to him, kissing her neck. "So party planning?" They went over whom to invite, food: Sokka thought they should try and represent cuisines from all four nations, "Although I don't know how easy it is to get sea prunes or whale here," entertainment: both musicians and performers, lots of drinks and of course fireworks.

Iroh and Hakoda had a drink. "I'm going to have to get back to the tribe soon," Hakoda said to the general.

"Will you be able to stay for the end of the war party?"

"I don't know yet. If enough men are ready to go back, so that they can run things until I get there, I'll stay, but if I have to choose, I'd rather my guys get to the party and I'll head home. I'm the chief. I haven't been home in over two years. It's time."

"I understand. Well, it was good to meet you, and I'm sure we will be seeing more of each other."

"I know right. Your niece and my son, never in a million years would I have guessed."

"I know right?" Iroh still was skeptical about the pair, but she was tamer around him.

Aang and Toph were talking in the garden. "I thought that Katara and I would be together after the war but all she talks about is Zuko and the throne and Azula, and it's like she never got out of combat mode."

"Don't wait for her," Toph said.

"What? Why not?"

"I don't want to see you like Suki. I could tell Sokka changed when he came back to us, but I couldn't tell why until we got here. His feelings changed. I could sense it. Katara's not thinking about you the way you want her to. If you hold on to a false hope, it will just hurt worse in the end."

"You can read that from the ground?"

"I can, plus, I think you have other options."

"Really like who?"

"What girls do you know that are single?"

"Suki? She's too old for me, well not exactly since I'm 112, but you know what I mean."

"Try again."

"Um, Mai, but I don't know how old she is and she's scarier than Azula. At least Azula can smile."

"Try again and if you say Ty Lee, I will slap you."

Aang thought. Didn't she just name all of the girls, well other than herself? Hey, wait a minute! Did she mean? Before he could finish his thought, Toph kissed him, shocking his heart like a lightening bolt. His eyes clamped shut. Her mouth soft and sweet, but her hands were rough, holding his head in place as if she was afraid he'd bolt. The flighty airbender, however, had no plans on going anywhere. He returned the kiss, cupping her face with his hands, letting her know that she could ease up. She didn't, but she knew that she could if she wanted.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning, two carriages full of people arrived at the palace. One of them had the Kyoshi Warriors, here to meet with their leader and the other were some Hakoda's men, who were here to find out where they were going next.

The guards had been expecting both groups and the men were led to Hakoda while the women were taken to the Fire Lord's office.

Azula was researching when they arrived. She had a lot to learn about the other nations before her negotiations would start and she would not waste any time.

"My Lord, the Kyoshi Warriors are here."

"Let them in and you are dismissed."

"Yes, My Lord."

The girls had never expected an invitation to the palace, not from Azula of all people.

"Girls, please come in. I just wanted to have a quick word before I take you to Suki."

"Is she okay?"

Is she injured?"

Azula got several questions all at once. "She's fine, physically, but she and Sokka broke up, and she's a bit down. I think she could use some cheering up."

"What happened?"

"We'll kill him!"

"I'd rather you didn't kill him, and I'm sure Suki will tell you, but well, I happened."

The room got quiet when they understood her answer.

"Anyway, I'll take you to her. The servants will wash your clothes, set up your rooms and do anything else you require, within reason."

Azula may be short, but she walked with confidence, quickly sweeping the hallways, forcing the girls, unfamiliar with the palace, to walk quickly.

She showed them the door, knocked loudly and then left.

"I'm not in the mood for breakfast," Suki growled.

"Suki, It's Rai, let us in."

She opened the door to find herself in a massive group hug.

"We were so worried about you."

"At least we had each other."

"We're all together again."

* * *

Hakoda's men were happy to see their chief as well, albeit they were less huggy, well other than Bato. He pulled his chief into a crushing bear hug.

"I thought you were dead when they said the Princess came for you. Have you been living like a king this whole time?"

"Haha! No. I came back with her uncle Iroh after we freed Ba Sing Se."

The men got straight to business, deciding who was heading home today and how they were going to get there.

Sokka woke up to realize Azula had already started working for the day. She was clearly no longer in bed and there was a note on her dresser.

"Fire Man Sokka,

I had to get going on my research. I would have woken you up, but you were too cute while you were sleeping. Your father's men are arriving this morning, as are the Kyoshi Warriors. I'm sure the men will be happy to see you, the ladies not so much.

: )

Azula

Sokka went to greet his fellow tribesmen before getting breakfast. This would be his first time seeing them since the invasion. He still blamed himself for it failing even though Kuei dropped the ball by telling Azula about it. He should have had his men turn back, but no one wants to admit defeat before you even start.

When he got there, he found himself getting high fives and slaps on the back. "We hear you got a girl!"

They all wanted to hear how he "tamed the beast" as it were. The kid may be a goofball, but you can't say he doesn't have heart after he walked into the dragon's den.

He told them about how he had been "trained to be a gladiator," but over time, he and Azula actually got to know each other, and she had proven to be a cool girl brought up in a backwards world. "Her dad is like totally evil and she was raised to be violent and condescending. She'd try to be nice and not really know how to do it, like bringing me really good food and then calling me a Savage before giving it to me." She was caught between how she had been raised and how she felt, and he was able to help her shed some of her past and she was able to help him end the war.

"I guess this makes me a bit crazy, but I kissed her and then everything changed." While the men looked at him in wonder, Suki's friends consoled their depressed leader.

"I thought he loved me; when he came back, I just knew everything would be right and then after the war, he's all 'I didn't mean for this to happen, but I fell in love with her.' How could he fall in love with her? HOW!"

The girls had no explanation. It was too early to start drinking and they didn't know what else they could do for her.

"When we get home, we're going to get the island in order and you'll find a guy 100 times better."

"I don't want better. I want Sokka!"

Azula was practicing for when the world leaders would come to her palace. She had to greet them in a way that was welcoming, but not pretentious. They were not friends. She could not appear chummy, but she didn't want to appear cold either. She was practicing her facial expressions in the mirror when Ty Lee and Mai came in behind her.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee asked with a giggle.

"I'm trying to look welcoming without looking fake." Azula practiced a series of different smiles, finally settling on the half smile with warm eyes.

"You don't just let your face move naturally."

"Appearance is everything when you have a crown on your head."

"Can I try on your crown?"

Azula rolled her eyes and then got it from her shelf, sticking it on Ty Lee's head.

"This is heavy!"

"It's gold."

"Oh!" Ty Lee took it off her head. "I'd get a headache."

"That's why I don't wear it unless I have to."

"Can we eat now?" Mai growled.

"Oh um Sure. In the palace or are we going out?"

"Dim Sum!"

Azula went to see if Sokka wanted to join. She folded her arms around his chest, kissing his cheek. "Did you want to go to dim sum with us?"

Sokka had been hearing war stories from the men. "Sure, are we going now?"

"What's dim sum?" Bato asked.

"Only the best thing ever, carts of delicious food. You just point and they put a basket of what you want in front of you."

Sokka talked it up so well, everyone wanted to go.

"I hope they have a big enough table," he said as they got in the palanquin. They took two palanquins to get everyone there.

When they got there, Azula said, "I'll need a big table, lots of meat and, just keep the drinks coming."

"Yes my Lord."

The staff had to put two tables together to fit everyone. The first cart brought to them was full of meat skewers, meat buns, and meat dumplings. Almost everything in the cart ended up on the table, the men from the Southern Warrior Tribe seeing all kinds of dishes they had never even heard of before.

They argued over which dish was best. Each time they tried a new dish, it was the best.

"To think the Fire Nation has all kinds of good food," unlike the ostrich horse shit they ate in jail

They used lunch as an opportunity to roast Sokka and Azula, asking the young Fire Lord how he compared against the men from the Fire Nation.

The young couple took it in stride. Azula decided to tease them right back, bragging her lover's praises at the dinner and saying things that made them all blush.

"Azula," he hissed, feigning anger.

She quickly kissed his nose. "Let me have my fun. It's not everyday I can make a table full of grown men squirm."

"Yes it is."

"Haha, you're right."

After lunch, they headed back to the palace. Most of the men were departing that evening. Bato and a couple of others were waiting until the party. They showed up drunk and in a boisterous manner. Katara came out, not used to seeing them hammered unless it's a holiday.

"Where did you all go?"

"Azula and her friends took us out to eat. That food was great and the drinks just kept coming."

They all went out with Azula. Why?

The men started to see a shanty about a girl who got found by the rocks, and who's hair was made of perfect, shiny locks, and liked to spend her time riding thick ….

Katara looked for her father. He was less drunk than the others, but still a bit tipsy. "Man, that whiskey was something else."

"Dad? Are you drunk?"

"Only a little bit."

Katara looked at him.

"Come on. I'm a grown man. At least let me have a little fun."

Bato came and slapped his friend on the back. "Hakoda, my man. Katara, good to see you." He hugged her, reeking of booze.

"Hi Bato."

He then turned to Hakoda. "Seriously, your future daughter in law is hot. Sokka is a lucky man."

Katara needed to escape before she threw up.

While the men goofed off, the Kyoshi warriors were making plans to go home. Maybe a change of scenery would cheer up their leader.

Sokka, meanwhile, was feeling a little frisky from the booze. He came to visit his lover who was already back to work in her office.

"How can you work after drinking?"

"I only had one drink, the rest was water."

"Well, I had several and I want you."

Azula grinned. "We haven't had any fun in here yet." She locked her office door. Sokka sat in her oversized chair and pulled Azula on his lap. He kissed her, his lips tasting of whiskey and lemonade.

His hands started to undo her pants. She raised her hips to get out of them and then straddled her lover. Their bodies melded together as they kissed passionately. She undid his pants, and they lined up perfectly. He quickly put on a condom before she guided his manhood inside her.

"OH!"

He grabbed her ass and held her close as she began to ride.

Toph was helping Aang with his earthbending, aka she was pummeling him.

"Is that all you got Twinkle Toes."

Yes! "No!"

"Then man up!" She hurled a series of rocks at him. He went underground, knowing she could see him, but then he reemerged in a rock suit. He responded with a rock flurry of his own.

"That's the spirit! Fight back!"

Mai and Ty Lee were bored. They didn't have any work to do and went to see if their friend needed anything.

"Zula!" Ty Lee knocked. No answer. She tried the door, locked. She listened.

"Oh, she's having fun!"

Curious, Mai listened in. She rolled her eyes when she heard their friend moaning.

"She's so lucky. He's a stud."

"Maybe you'll get one of your own at the party."

"A woman can hope," Ty Lee said.

Mai shook her head. They wandered through the rest of the palace and ran into the Rai and the other warriors.

"What are you all doing?" Ty Lee asked them.

"Trying to figure out the best way home from here."

"You're not staying for the party?"

"What party?"

"The end of the war party. There's going to be lots of food, drinks, cute boys."

"BOYS!" The warriors started getting into party mode.

When it was time for dinner, the girls were babbling about the party. Zuko grunted. It was bad enough to have Ty Lee going on about dresses and dancing, but now there was a gaggle of girls going on about it. Ugh!

Katara just growled. She was not in the mood to celebrate knowing that her worst enemy would control the world's strongest nation that her brother was hell bent on marrying her, and they were going to celebrate like they were heroes. Did they celebrate when they shot Aang in the back? Probably.

Aang and Toph were in their own little world. Ty Lee could tell their auras were pink and they were quite happy with one another.

Iroh was having fun getting to know his counterparts from the South and as usual, Suki was sulking.

Koko was excited. "Boys, from all over the world. We'll have our pick."

"Not if Ty Lee beats you to it," Azula teased.

The girls started laughing. Suki felt the last of the air in her lungs collapse. Even her warriors liked Azula. How did this girl get everything and leave her with nothing? Abruptly, she ran from the table.

The girls looked at each other confused.

"Maybe I should go talk to her," Azula said as she got up.

"Why?" Katara hissed at her. "You're the cause of most of her distress."

"Katara," her father scolded.

"She's right. I am." Azula walked away, quickly finding the warrior in her room. She knocked on the door.

"Rai, I'm not in the mood."

Azula opened the door anyway. "Good thing I'm not Rai."

"Come to gloat?"

"About what?"

"You got my boyfriend, your throne now you have my friends too."

"What? Surely you don't think they like me better than you. They're just giddy about the party."

"I don't want to go to the party! I want to go home."

"You don't mean that. You're a war hero Suki. You don't want to miss out on the world celebrating for the first time in 100 years."

"Why not?"

"You shouldn't be that upset over Sokka. He's not worth it."

"What, he's your boyfriend?"

"What I mean is no ex-boyfriend is worth giving up. Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you or you can't find happiness with someone else. There are plenty of men in the sea and you will have your pick of handsome men from all over the world. If you're ready to go home in sulk instead of celebrating your accomplishments and eating and drinking your hearts delight at my expense, then you're not the girl I thought you were."

Suki looked up, staring at her formal rival, baffled by her words.

"Let's talk leader to leader. We've both had our wins and our losses; we both know what it's like to be captured."

"You were captured?"

Azula nodded. "Granted it was a simulation, but my father still made me spend 30 hours in the brig. I got interrogated 4 times. It wasn't pretty. My point is, you fall down and you get back up. You elevate yourself. You thrive and you make your ex see the wonderful girl that he's now missing out on. You don't crumble."

Suki looked a little better but not fully convinced.

"If that doesn't cheer you up, this will. I will have the misfortune of seeing all of my exes at the party. All of them will be sizing up Sokka and if I'm not referring fights between them all night, I'll surely be getting bombarded with questions about my sordid love history. Why would you want to miss out on a chance to witness this?"

Suki laughed. "All of your exes?"

"Before Sokka, I only dated Fire Nation nobles. They'll all be there, including Chan who I almost slept with before Zuko broke his mother's vase and got us thrown out of his party. That will be a fun reunion."

"Well if I get to see you miserable, then I guess I should stick around."

"Now that's the spirit. Now let's go eat before our food is cold, or well in my case, before Sokka eats my dinner."

The two girls returned to the meal and like Azula suspected, Sokka had already finished her chicken. "They're bringing you another one."

She shook her head.


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Azula is no longer the Earth Queen. Kuei got control of Ba Sing Se when the White Lotus regained control of the city. Unclear yet whether or not she still has influence over the Dai Li.

* * *

Later that night, Ty Lee thought it would be fun if the girls all had a sleepover to get to know each other better.

Mai looked skeptical, but she decided it would at least be entertaining.

Azula suggested her old bedroom so Sokka wouldn't have to move. Sokka declared guys night to give himself something to do. Aang wondered what a guys night would be like with Zuko, Iroh, Hakoda, Bato and Sokka, interesting to say the least.

The Crown Princess suite was very large, with its own pavilion, master bedroom, private bathroom and guest bedroom.

"This is bigger than my old apartment," Rai commented as they got inside.

"What's the difference between this room and your new one," Suki asked her.

"The Fire Lord's suite has a third bedroom which is usually a nursery or an office, and a balcony in addition to its pavilion."

"So instead of a large apartment, it's more like a house."

"Pretty much."

Ty Lee rang the servant's bell. "Can we get some moon peach wine and fire flakes?"

"What's a fire flake?" Toph claimed a pillow and sat on the floor.

"It's like a funnel cake, but better." Azula answered.

"How can you do better than a funnel cake?"

"Add ginger and fire whiskey to the batter. The alcohol cooks off, but the texture is great."

The servants came with trays of food and bottles of wine.

"I'm going to miss this room," Ty Lee lamented.

"It's not going anywhere," Mai told her.

"I know, but it's not the same if Azula's not living in it, not that your new room isn't awesome," Ty Lee added.

"I know what you mean. I've had this room since I was nine. Last night, I accidentally came back here and wondered where my stuff went?"

"Who lived here before you?" Suki asked.

"No one that I remember. The last crown princess must have been at least 100 years ago."

"That long?"

Azula shrugged. "I'm the first princess born to the nation in a long time. Sozin was an only child. Azulon was too and he only had sons. Sozin's mother must have been the last Crown Princess, but enough about my genealogy, let's get to the fun stuff. So Toph, you and Aang, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Toph lied, turning pink.

"Hmm! So kissing in the garden is nothing?"

"How did you know?"

Azula snickered. "I overheard the servants gossiping on my way to the kitchen. You're dating the world's most recognizable boy. People are going to notice."

"Was he your first kiss?" Ty Lee asked her.

"Second, I kind of kissed Suki during the comet."

"You kind of?" Suki retorted. "You went for a full on lip lock."

"In my defense, I did think you were Sokka."

Azula started to giggle.

The other girls stared at her.

"What?"

"I don't know if I've ever seen you giggle," Mai answered.

"Cackle yes!" Ty Lee affirmed.

"Ridicule yes."

"Mock yes."

Guffaw yes."

"But giggle. I'm concerned are you becoming a girl?"

"Shut up!" Azula couldn't keep a straight face and started to laugh.

"Remember when you tried to laugh at Chan's party and you sounded like a hyena," Ty Lee said.

"No I forgot, thanks for reminding me," Azula said dryly.

"Was that the party Zuko got you thrown out of," Suki asked them.

"Yes!" Ty Lee started going on about how all these boys were hitting on her and she couldn't choose between them so she chi blocked them all, but then Zuko threw Ruan Jian into a wall, breaking a vase and Chan threw them all out.

"I wanted to kill him," Azula growled. "He ruins everything."

"What did he ruin for you?" Mai hissed. "He ruined our relationship."

"He ruined my sex," Azula complained.

Ty Lee started laughing at her.

"You were actually going to sleep with Chan?" Mai questioned.

"I don't know about sleeping with him, but it was about to be happy time for me when we heard smash, broken vase."

"What do you mean about to be happy time?" Toph asked, unsure of what they were implying?

"Well, let's just say he had his head between my …"

"Azula," Mai slapped her arm.

"What? She asked."

"Did you have to say it that way?"

"Sorry, oh sensitive one. He was in the middle of performing cunniling…"

"Seriously Azula, gross!"

"What is with your qualms about sex? Just because Zuko couldn't unwrap his dick and learn to use it..."

"Shut up!" Mai got mad. Suki glared at Azula as well.

"Seriously though. It would have been terrible with him anyway. There are plenty of cute guys who know how to make women happy, so go find one and stop being so grumpy."

"Not interested."

"There are plenty of ladies who know how to make women happy."

"I hate you."

"I love you too Mai."

"Are they always like that?" Rai asked.

"Yes." Ty Lee answered.

"I just don't get what's Zuko's problem. I can't think of an easier way of getting laid than being a prince and he's just a miserable virgin."

"There's nothing wrong with being a virgin," Suki told her.

"I agree, but maybe he would stop sulking all day if he discovered women or men, whatever."

"Is the palace always so tawdry," Katara asked dryly.

"You think this is bad. Ozai and Iroh used to compete over who could get the most pussy, and those are the words my father used when he drunkenly told me about this."

"They used to what?" Ty Lee stared at her.

"Did I not tell you? Oh, you had already run away at this point. Father had some party for his generals and he got tanked, like a fifth of whiskey by himself tanked and started telling me about his youth." Azula impersonated her father, taking some of her hair out of her top not and sending it down her back, pushing some of her locks in front of her face to make a fake goatee. Then she mimicked his voice.

"Azula, I'm glad that you are a much better child than I was at your age. Luckily for me, you are dedicated to the country, focused on your work, and not running around with boys. You see, when I was young, I didn't give a monkey rat's ass about the war; all I cared about was pussy." The girls were shocked at both her language and her resemblance to her father.

"I would make bets with my brother over who could get the most tail;

I always won of course, but it was good competition. Girls just throw themselves at you if you're a prince. I barely had to do anything at all. It was great. I was even dating these twins, but they got mad when they found out about the other one. I don't know why. I thought twins would be used to sharing but I guess not."

Azula shook her head. "I learned more about my father than I ever needed to know and I thought I could drink away my memory of the conversation, but instead I woke up hungover and remembering every detail. Isn't life a bitch?"

"So Ozai didn't think you had boyfriends?" Toph asked her.

"Are you kidding, he would have burned them alive. According to Ozai, I was a good, virginal Crown Princess." Ty Lee laughed at virginal.

"Shut up Ty Lee. You have no basis to judge me. Who knows what kind of orgies you were getting into with those circus freaks?"

"I was only in one orgy!"

As the girls continued their bawdy banter, Toph was relieved not to have the spot light on her, Suki was amazed by how different "casual Azula was" and Katara was grossed out that her brother's girlfriend had no qualms comparing the dicks of her exes with Ty Lee's exes."

"That one guy, he was kind of really crooked," Ty Lee said. "I wasn't sure if it would fit in right, but then his sister set the kitchen on fire so I had to go. I never found out."

Azula was in hysterics. "Do you think he could straighten that out if he tied his dick to like a metal rod or something? Are they trainable?"

* * *

The conversation with the boys, oops the men, were no cleaner.

"I can't wait for this party," Bato growled as he finished his whiskey. "There's going to be hot women, and women love battle scars and I got a few to show off!"

"How do you know the women will be hot?" Hakoda asked, unsure if that was a prerequisite for coming.

"Have you not noticed the women here? I see pretty ladies all the time. If they look anything like the women we've come across, I'm gonna get laid!"

Sokka started laughing at him.

"You laugh now, but women will be screaming my name BA-TO, BA-TO!"

"Women in your dreams," he retorted.

"What do you know about pleasing women?"

"I'm a fast learner," Sokka said with a smirk.

Zuko growled at him.

"Sokka, normally I'd say you're a fool for not sowing your wild oats while you still can, but your girl is a catch, and let it be known, bossy women are the best in bed."

"EW!" Zuko complained.

"Really? Why?" Aang asked, unaware.

"Women are usually timid during sex. They want to please, but they don't know how to say what they want, so us guys have to guess and sometimes we guess wrong. Bossy women can take charge, grab the horn and ride the bull. It makes things way better."

"So you'll be just fine," Sokka teased him.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko questioned.

"Aang and Toph sitting in a tree, f-u-c-k." Sokka started to sing.

"How did you know?"

"Azula told me. I bet she's grilling Toph for all the juicy details as we speak so cough em up big boy."

"Well, we were at the garden, talking and she kissed me and I guess we've been together ever since."

"What were you talking about?" Iroh questioned, innocuously.

"Um," Aang wasn't sure if he could say.

Sokka slapped his back. "It can't be that bad if Toph kissed you."

"Well, we were talking about Katara and why she doesn't like me, well she likes me but not the way that I like her or well used to like her and um …" will Sokka hurt me? "Toph kissed me and it was time to move on."

"Good for you, man," Sokka said as he bit into a cookie.

"You're not mad?"

"For what? If anything it makes it easier if you're not dating my sister. I won't have to see you kiss and stuff, blech."

"But I get stuck watching you and Azula?"

"It's not my fault she finds me irresistible." Sokka smirked.

Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you'll meet a nice girl at the ball," Iroh suggested to his nephew.

"Better hope for a naughty girl. They're more fun," Bato chided.

"Up top!" Sokka high-fived him.

"If Azula heard that she'd smack the hell out of you," Hakoda told him.

Sokka snickered. "She prides herself in not being nice."

"Unfortunately that's true," Zuko grumbled.

* * *

To Toph's chagrin, the girls wanted to know more about her and Aang.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"Does he have any special Avatar moves?"

"Do you think he can draw on his past lives' experience?" Azula asked her.

"What?"

"If he could, he'd likely be quite advanced."

"You are such a ho," Mai threw a pillow at her.

"What? It was just an academic question."

"Sure it was."

"I got it. Maybe he could use the avatar state to stimulate your ..."

"AZULA!" Mai yelled.

"What? She could be onto something magical here."

"Do you ever talk about anything other than sex?" Katara grumbled, sick of their dirty talk, gross.

"Clearly she's never been to a sleepover," Azula retorted.

Ty Lee pondered. "We used to gossip about the girls in school too, but we're out of school."

"Although those catty bitches will be at the party," Azula mentioned. "I wonder who's engaged, who's having a 'necessity wedding' and who's going to be trolling for a husband."

"I think it will be fun to see our old classmates," Ty Lee said.

"I don't," growled Mai.

"Think about it this way. I'm the Fire Lord now. All I have to do is look at one of them the wrong way, and they'll run home."

"This might be fun after all."

"That's a terrible thing to do," Katara said bitingly.

"What, mess with my peers? That's the whole point of the royal academy."

"You are so mean and nasty. I don't know what Sokka sees in you."

"Lucky for me, he finds my wickedness a turn on."

"I still can't believe I dated him," Suki said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you're too nice for him. You should try a bad boy next time."

"How can you be too nice for a boy?" Toph asked.

"It's not surprising that opposites attract. If you're nice and he's nice, then both of you are bored. Likewise, if you're both naughty, then you'll crash and burn quickly. You need balance."

"Yue was very nice," Katara retorted.

Azula wasn't going to get bent out of shape by a water peasant. "I'm sure she was, but it never would have worked anyway."

"How can you say that?"

Azula shrugged. "She was going through with a betrothal to a jerk to appease her father. Sokka wouldn't have wanted to make her choose between him and his tribe and her family and her own tribe. He's not that kind of guy."

"And you have no trouble making him choose?"

"Why does he have to choose anything?"

"He won't be able to lead our tribe if he stays here."

"Boo hoo. His son or daughter will inherit this throne and his tribe will be protected by the largest military in the world. I think that is more than a fair trade."

* * *

Over on the men's side, they were all drunk. "I wonder what the girls are up to right now," Aang said after he burped.

"I bet 10 coins that Azula and Katara are bickering if not out right fighting," Sokka sighed as he finished his drink.

"Katara really has it out for her," Hakoda said as he yawned.

"Well Azula did lock her in the crystal catacombs," Zuko growled.

"You turned on us that day, and she's chummy with you," Sokka retorted, not thinking all that highly of the Crown Prince.

"Azula's the one who shot Aang in the back."

"And you're the one who took credit for it, so you could go home to Daddy." Azula told him how she tried to help Zuko out by ending his banishment, but when Zuko told her father the truth on the Day of the Black Sun, the former Fire Lord was furious with her. She had to fight him in an agni kai and win to protect her place as first in line to the throne. Sokka understood Zuko's leaving, but snitching, why? Sokka would never snitch on Katara.

Zuko glared. Sokka met him head on.

"No need to fight," Bato said trying to calm them down. "Why fight when you can just drink?"

Hakoda snorted. "You should talk. You've been in more drunken brawls than anyone else I know."

"So I got into some scraps in my day. What can I say? Sometimes fools don't know when to shut up."

"At least half of the time, the fool was you," Hakoda remarked.

"Eh, maybe more like a third."

The Princess was ready for bed. She found herself on one side with Ty Lee in the middle and Mai on the other side, just like when they were kids. To Mai's chagrin, Ty Lee chose her as her snuggle buddy for the night. They were able to fit everyone in both bedrooms, but Toph preferred to sleep outside on the rock. She took a pillow and a blanket and went out to the pavilion. It was huge.


	15. Chapter 15

When she woke up, Toph could hear activity outside. When she got out to find out what it was, she realized Azula was training. The Fire Lord went out at sunrise every morning, starting with meditation and then going through her katas. She didn't have to turn around to know Toph was standing there. She was hyper observant, anything from the way someone walks to the shampoo she wears can give it away.

Azula finished her warm up and was ready to practice her fighting. As a Fire Lord, she had to be vigilant and in top shape at all times. "It's a shame we never got a chance to battle during the war," Azula said to the earthbender. "I think that would have been something to write home about."

Toph folded her arms. "You think I'm scared of you?"

Azula laughed. "I know you're not. That's what would have made it fun."

Toph couldn't argue there. Azula was easily the most formidable opponent they faced, other than her father. "Why don't we have a bit of a rumble right now?"

"What are the stakes?"

"Bragging rights."

"Fair enough. Rules?"

"No lightning," Toph insisted.

"Fine, no metalbending."

"We end if someone gets knocked out and no maiming. I like having all my limbs."

"Agreed."

Azula wondered if she should bow. The bandit was blind. Azula did it anyway.

"You alright?" Toph thought she was sick.

"Never been better. Let's begin."

Toph wasted no time, launching a large boulder right at Azula's head. Azula moved slightly to her right, barely evading it. Earthbenders were strong, but they were slow. She could see already that Toph was quicker than most, but Azula was amongst the fastest of firebenders. She needed to use that to her advantage.

Azula sent a series of blasts towards Toph's feet. Since that's how she sees, she could not afford to let them get burnt.

"Trying to blind me?" Toph made a mini rock wall to shield her feet.

"I thought you were already blind." Azula took the opportunity to move laterally, opening up the space more. She sent a fire circle down the ring. Toph easily evaded it, but then it came back around, almost burning her bottom.

Toph realized she needed to make this much harder for the Fire Lord. She created a rock blizzard, sending large chunks all around her opponent. It was a very powerful move, but it took time to generate, time Azula used to plan her next attack. She ran into the flurry of rocks, using her firebending to break up the ones in her path and set herself moving right past Toph. As soon as she landed she moved laterally, again escaping another rock attack.

Azula sent powerful blasts right at the earthbender, who was no on defense. She made shield after shield, escaping blistering hot fire whips and circles. Azula realized that Toph dealt with head on attacks better than most and decided to try a more indirect approach. She sent a fire whip, so it would go alongside the earthbender, and then another on the other side. She managed to box in the Blind Bandit before sending a third fire whip designed to coil around her, bringing heat closer and closer as the fire came from all directions.

The flames were about to ignite Toph's shirt when she conceded. Azula put out her flame.

"It's a good thing you refused to fight your brother. Sparky would have gotten creamed."

"Funny, he doesn't see it that way."

"Well, boys are dumb."

"Can't disagree with you there. Care to join me for breakfast?"

"Sure."

The two girls got to talking. As it turned out, they had a lot in common, mothers who wanted them to be more feminine and dainty, fathers who were obsessed with passing down their legacy but never got the male heir they wanted.

"So here we are, master benders who managed to be a disappointment to both of our parents." Toph growled as she got ready to eat.

"Well, I don't give a monkey's behind what either of my parents think of me."

"Neither do I, although it would have been nice if they had been supportive."

"I know. Sokka's such a family man, and I feel like I should understand, but it's completely foreign to me. I never had much of a family."

"My family just kept me locked up. I had to sneak out to learn to earthbend."

"Who was your master?"

"The badgermoles."

"I would have loved to learn from the dragons, but Iroh killed the last one."

"That's what Zuko said, but then he and Aang found some at the sun warrior's temple."

"Really?" I wonder if they'll have a baby. I'd love to have a dragon.

"Yeah, they even learned some dance to learn how to firebend."

"Learning from a dance. Tell me he wasn't going to try to dance his way through an agni kai with me."

"I don't know about that."

* * *

When the Fire Lord returned to her chambers for a bath, she found her boyfriend asleep in bed. She kissed his forehead. He was still snoring.

She took her bath and when she came back out, she decided to wake him up.

"Five more minutes, Katara," he grumbled.

"I'm not Katara," she said before she bit him.

He opened his eyes to see his naked girlfriend on top of him. "Well, hello."

While they got it on, Zuko went outside to train. The ring was scorched and there was earth everywhere. It looked like Toph and Azula had been brawling out here. They probably were. Zuko picked a relatively unscathed part of the ring and decided to train there.

The other guys were sleeping off the booze and most of the girls decided to sleep in late as well.

Mai woke up, but she had trouble moving with Ty Lee wrapped around her. "Ty Lee, get up."

"Why?"

"Because I want to get up."

"But I like having you here. You smell good."

Mai snorted. "But we have to get ready for the afternoon tea."

"Isn't it in the afternoon?"

"Yes, but we will have to get up this morning."

"Fine, grumpy guts."

That afternoon, the three Fire Nation ladies went to Mai's parent's house for afternoon tea. Her Mother was eager to host the new Fire Lord. Azula kissed Sokka before she left. "I'll be back before dinner."

"Aw!" Ty Lee said, making Azula blush.

"Oh hush woman."

They got in her palanquin, a guard on either side of them and they were off. Since Azula's coronation, the guards were more cautious about her protection.

When they got there, the guards escorted them to the patio and then waited outside.

They started serving tea once Azula had arrived. "Thank you for coming my Lord." Mai's cousin greeted them.

"Thank you for having us. I trust all is well with you." Azula wasn't sure if she actually liked Mai's cousin, but the woman was well connected. Hopefully, she would prove to be useful.

"It is, now that our family is all at home."

"All healthy I hope."

"Yes, indeed we are. However there are a lot of families who are struggling, injuries, no more employment now that the military has come home."

"Well, I am sure that our country's men will be back at work soon. We have a lot of building to do."

Azula used the conversation to gauge what the nobility was expecting from her. As typical for the Fire Nation, the military was in the forefront along with taxes. Azula would have to get creative and find a way to keep the returning soldiers employed, satisfy the other nations while paying as little reparations as possible and find a way to keep taxes under control.

* * *

Zuko was eager for a day out of the palace and got Katara, Sokka, Aang and Toph to go with him.

They got on Zuko's palanquin and headed into the city.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Toph teased the warrior.

"She's at afternoon tea with some nobles or whatever."

"To think she's a monarch and still has to do that girly shit. Can't catch me there," Toph chuckled.

"Afternoon tea is a big deal here," Zuko explained. "It's where you make allies and forge deals." Azula's fast at work, making sure her throne is secure.

"So the Loser Lord went to afternoon tea?"

Zuko snorted. "No, but Azula likely went for him. Usually, the Fire Lady does that kind of stuff."

"You hear that Sokka. You're going to be going to afternoon tea!"

"I'm not going to be her Fire Lady," he insisted. "I'm going to be her Fire Man."

Toph guffawed before she slapped his back. "What does that even mean?"

"Um, eating a lot and basking on her pavilion."

"So basically, she's going to run the country while you do nothing." Zuko glared at him.

"It's working so far."

"Glad to see your aspirations are so high," Katara growled.

"I know right. Wait, she said I would be raising the children, so that's the one thing I have to do."

"You, stay at home dad?" Aang questioned, not seeing the warrior at home with a bunch of babies.

"She wants them to be benevolent, like me."

"Hopefully they don't smell like you," Toph teased.

"Hey, I have the finest soap now."

"Then what's your excuse?" She pinched her nose.

"He actually smells like fresh wood. It's rather pleasant," Aang said. Everyone stared him. He did smell like freshly cut cedar, but seriously Aang.

"Kind of gay dude," Zuko said to him.

The Avatar shrugged. He wasn't into dudes, not that there's anything wrong with that.

They got to the center of town, and there were markets everywhere. Sokka perked up at the meat on a skewer. "A snack before I get some new clothes!"

"Since when does he like buying clothes?" Katara remarked.

"Since he went with Azula," Aang told her. "Apparently, if you walk into a store with her once, they remember you forever and treat you like a god." Well, that's what Ty Lee had told him.

Toph heard that and went along with Sokka. She wanted special treatment too.

The two got some meat skewers and then went to the store Azula had taken him to previously. Like Ty Lee said, they recognized Sokka and quickly came to help him and Toph. He wanted a couple of blue shirts this time and off white pants, which they had. Toph was less concerned about the colors she wore, since she couldn't see them. They decided gold was her color; "it really brings out your green eyes," they said.

Gold tops, black skirts, and they tried to get her some shoes, but she was less interested. They did, however, convince her to get these massaging sleeping socks, since her feet could always use a massage.

Sokka asked if they had any jewelry. He wanted to get something for his lady. They had a beautiful necklace of a rose, with all of the thorns on the stem. "Now this is perfect," he said. He paid by showing them his crown stamp, except for the necklace, which he got with the few coins he had left.

While they were shopping, Aang was off meeting people, doing airbending tricks for the children and enjoying his time amongst the masses.

"He went from being public enemy number one to a superstar overnight," Zuko commented as he and Katara watched him enthrall the crowd.

"I know. I want to think that the Fire Nation changed their minds about the war, but it feels so fake, you know."

"I understand that, kind of like my sister. She's been so vicious for so long; this 'new Azula' unnerves me. She was sparring with Toph this morning like they were buddies or something. They tore up the field."

"I wonder how peaceful she'll be when the other world leaders get here."

"Hah! She invited Kuei. He's going to love her. She didn't think twice about throwing his ass in his own jail."

When they got back to the palanquin, Zuko and Katara were stunned at all the stuff Toph and Sokka bought.

"What did you buy?"

"Clothes."

"Just clothes?"

"Well, I also got shoes and a hunting knife and I got Azula a necklace."

"How did you pay for all of that?"

"He didn't," Zuko growled, clearly the royal family did.

"I paid for the necklace and the food we ate."

"I usually hate shopping, but this was great."

"That's because the saleswomen kept telling you how pretty you are."

"I know right."

The two babbled all the way home about which one the saleswomen thought was cuter.

* * *

Mai's parents were determined to show their loyalty to the new Fire Lord. Mai's father had been the governor of New Ozai before Bumi retook his city and he wanted to make it clear that he was ready to support Azula's new vision for the Fire Nation. He also wanted to remain employed. The young leader said they would be in touch soon as she made her hiring decisions.

"Shall we get going?" Azula asked ready to return home.

Tom Tom had latched himself onto Mai. "Mai!"

The grumpy girl cracked a smile. "I'll visit soon Tom Tom. She kissed his forehead and handed him to their mother.

The girls got in the palanquin and headed back to the palace.

"Tom-Tom is getting so big," Ty Lee said affectionately.

"If he's not careful, he'll grow wider than he is tall," the Fire Lord remarked.

"Zula," Ty Lee slapped her arm.

"No, he's a chubby one," Mai remarked. "You have to keep feeding the golden goose."

"Don't tell me your jealous," Azula turned to her, of her snot-nosed little brother.

"Why would I be jealous? My parents have the son they always wanted and they can forget they ever had me."

"At least your brother likes you," Azula remarked, "and I would take forgetful parents over my parents any day."

"Fine, you have the worst family, happy!"

"No. I was just putting things in perspective for you. There's no reason to get upset over your parents' deficiencies. You're a smart girl with opportunities left and right. Take advantage of them and prosper. If your parents can't appreciate your success, then that's their problem, not yours."

"How do you do that, just pretend it doesn't bother you?" Mai turned to her. Is she showing emotion?

"I don't let it bother me anymore. I can't choose how my family acts, but I can choose how I react to them. I choose not to hold on to resentment. I held it in for 15 years too long as it is. It was just time to let it go."

"Sokka made that easier, didn't he?" the acrobat asked her.

"Yes he did." They spent a long time talking about their families. It was when Azula decided that she wanted Sokka to take the lead on their child rearing. He knew what it felt like to have a happy, healthy family. She didn't and she wanted her kids to be happy, not obsessed with perfection and overstuffed with pride.

They got back to the palace and Azula went to take notes on her afternoon tea before dinner. She got to her office and began to write. She was just getting to her last page of notes when there was a knock on her door.

She sighed. Hopefully, she wouldn't forget anything now that her concentration was broken.

"Come in!"

Of course it was Zuzu.

"How was your afternoon tea?"

Really. He wants to ask about it now.

"It was nice, informative. How was your day?" Please tell me this will be a short conversation.

"It was pleasant. We went downtown, shopping and stuff."

"Tell me you got a better wardrobe."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "No, but Sokka did."

"Good. His clothes aren't appropriate for the weather here anyway."

Azula thought the conversation was over. Zuko had more to say.

"You decided to give him a royal stamp."

Azula looked at him. "I told him he could borrow mine if he needed it," not that its your concern.

"Don't you think this is a little fast? Moving him in, giving him an unlimited budget."

Now he's trying to play protective big brother? "I am quite capable of handling my own love life and my own budget."

"This isn't about whether or not you can afford it. You don't think Sokka's taking you for a ride. You've been together what, six weeks?" Zuko was not amused when Sokka said he had no intention of working or doing anything useful once he married Azula. It's not like Zuko liked his sister, but he liked anyone who freeloaded off her even less.

"Whatever he has, I gave him willingly, and if you are so concerned about me being exploited, perhaps you should tell your dozen friends here to find somewhere else to freeload. Anything else, brother?"

"No, my Lord," he said with venom as he excused himself.

Azula finished her notes and went to see her boyfriend. "So I hear you got some new rags."

"Rags? They are luxurious," he boasted as he showed off his new shirts, shorts, pants and fall jacket. He mostly stuck with blue and off white, but he did get some red and black clothes as well.

"Very nice." Azula kissed his lips. "I like them all."

"I hope you like this," he put a box in her hand. She opened it.

A flower necklace, it hardly seemed like something she'd wear until she saw the thorns. She smirked. "It is quite nice, a bit cheeky, but I like it."

"Well, I thought it suited you so I got it." He kissed her nose. "Have a good day?"

"I did," until my darling brother decided to visit. "I got some good insight as to what the nobility wants to see from me and it was nice to get out of the palace. It's too easy to get cooped up in here."

"I know, trapped in a luxurious palace where servants will wait on you hand and foot," Sokka teased with an over the top flair.

"Oh, hush, Savage."

"Now, I'm savage again?" he feigned hurt.

"You'll always be my savage," she said huskily as she kissed him.

"And you'll always be my princess." He pushed her on the bed. "Now about we build up an appetite before dinner."

"You always have an appetite," she retorted.

"And I have a craving for the Fire Lord." He reached under her dress, pulling it clean off her. She giggled as he quickly pulled off her undergarments and left her naked. She pulled off his shirt and started undoing his pants, leaning forward before she started to suck him into her mouth, quickly hardening him in her throat. She was on all fours on the bed as he stood in front of her.

"FUCK!" he growled, content with her work. Once he was sufficiently hard, he pulled away, pushing her on her back and pulling her hips up to his face, so he could return the favor.

"OH SOKKA!"

He loved it when she moaned his name, making him eager to continue. When she felt herself getting close, she pushed his head away. "I want you inside me."

He reached into the bedside drawer for a condom. She had the servants keep it constantly stocked, not wanting to risk making a baby before their wedding. He rolled it on. Before he could climb on the bed, she stood up and put her leg around him. He guided himself inside her and she put the other leg around his hip. He held her by her ass as he began to thrust.

"OH! AGNI!" Azula loved being held by him. He was big and strong. She'd never admit it to anyone else, but she never felt safer than when she was in his arms. She also thought it was sexy that he could hold her up and ravish her at the same time.

He grunted loudly, holding her in place as he had his way with her. "You're so fucking tight," he hissed in her ear as he sank his teeth into her neck. She loved his crude language.

Moans and grunts filled the room until they reached their climaxes. They collapsed on the bed and shared a sloppy kiss before they had to rush to get ready for dinner.

Azula managed to comb her hair before they got to the dining room. Sokka did not, his wolf tail in total disarray.

No one commented on Sokka's hairstyle, but Ty Lee gave him and Azula a knowing smirk. Azula rolled her eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

The Next Day

It was almost time for the ball. A tailor would be coming in to fit everyone for formal wear.

Sokka had just taken his bath and was about to get fitted for new robes. When he opened the door, the tailor came in with measuring tape and samples. He was surprised to see the man with red, black and gold.

"Do you not have blue and white?" the traditional colors of the water tribes.

"We have every nation's colors; I just assumed you were going as the Fire Lord's escort."

"I am." The two men looked at each other quizzically. "Am I missing something?"

"Traditionally, when one is the escort of a lady of the royal family, he wears the colors of the royal family, as a sign of loyalty."

"Oh of course," Sokka wasn't expecting that. How would it look wearing the Fire Nation's colors at the end of the war party?

"How about I just measure you and you and the Fire Lord can discuss colors later? I have to come back tomorrow anyway."

"Sure."

The tension in the air was suffocating. Sokka was relieved when the man was done and saw himself out.

Needless to say, measuring the other men was less awkward until he got to the Crown Prince. Zuko had all sorts of questions.

"Will you be making all of the robes?"

"I will, along with my assistants. Nothing leaves without my approval."

"And everyone will be wearing their nation's colors?"

"Most everyone, yes."

"What does most everyone mean?"

"Um, well. I'm not sure which colors Master Sokka will be wearing."

"He isn't the master of anything. He's a peasant."

"Oh, right, well the _peasant_ is the Fire Lord's escort, but he didn't seem to know that he would be expected to wear Fire Nation colors."

Zuko ignored the tailor's mocking tone. "And did he refuse?"

"He didn't refuse, exactly. He just seemed a bit flustered."

Zuko felt like he should be able to capitalize on this. He just wasn't sure how.

While the tailor measured the men, he had a female assistant measure the ladies, starting with the Fire Lord.

"You've grown taller since I last made you a dress my Lord," the seamstress said as she wrote down her measurements.

Azula didn't think she had, but she nodded in agreement anyway.

"You have also filled out more. Clearly puberty was quite kind to you."

"I don't think puberty is kind to anyone, but it's aftermath has been favorable I suppose."

Azula didn't care too much what people thought of her figure, absent her boyfriend. It was her competence and skill she wanted to be recognized.

"Do you know which primary color you want for your dress?" She had a few swatches of red, two blacks to compare and two gold. Azula quickly made a discard pile of the colors she didn't want as the primary, leaving the matte black, the paler gold and two of the four red options. She decided that she wanted the deep red as the primary color and for the black and the pale gold to be secondary.

"Very nice choice my Lord."

"I want this dress to look feminine but not sultry. I want it to be clear I am the sovereign, but I don't want it to look domineering."

"Yes my Lord."

Mai and Ty Lee were next. Ty Lee wanted a pink dress, which caused the seamstress to gulp before she said, "I'm sure the tailor will think of something."

Mai didn't care what she wore. "It just needs to fit and leave me plenty of places to hide my knives."

"We can sew in holders on the inside if you prefer."

"Now you're talking."

Suki and the warriors were next.

"I want something that will really make my ex-boyfriend jealous!"

"SUKI!" Koko scolded.

"What? It was Azula's idea," and a good one at that.

Suki was going for the plunging neckline and she asked, "would I be able to get a bodice that gives me a bit more on top?"

After the warriors, which took forever because they kept asking each other for advice on everything came Katara and Toph.

"Do I have to wear a dress to this thing?" Toph whined.

"Yes," Katara told her before the seamstress could respond.

"Fine, but I'm not wearing shoes!"

Katara groaned.

"I have nothing to do with the shoes," the seamstress retorted. "How about we start with measurements?"

"Fine."

"Where do we get shoes?" Katara asked.

"I would suggest a shoe store."

"HAHA Sugar Queen!" Toph laughed.

Katara scowled. "There isn't a shoemaker?"

"I'm sure the Fire Lord has her own shoes made. She hates a poor fit."

"Who doesn't! Plus, I can't see with shoes on."

"Why not get shoes with a mesh bottom, so you can still see, but it can offer some protection against sharp objects?" The seamstress suggested.

"Not a terrible idea. I might look into that."

"I need you to stop sucking in your stomach."

"I'm not," Toph retorted.

"I meant Katara."

"Gaining some weight Sugar Queen."

"I have not gained a kilo!"

Yes you have, Toph thought to herself. Her feet do not lie.

* * *

**The Day of the Ball**

It was hard to believe Sozin's Comet had been two weeks ago. Azula got up at sunrise to train. She needed a constant in her life and firebending was it for better or for worse. She would come inside and eat breakfast before beginning to work and she had a fair bit of work to do.

This would be her first time seeing Kuei since she threw him in jail and her first time seeing Arnook ever. Tomorrow afternoon, every Nation's leader would be meeting tomorrow to discuss how they would begin post war resolutions. This would also be her chance to begin to justify her reign to the rest of the world.

She had Mai, Zuko and Ty Lee helping her get ready for tomorrow's meeting. It was Mai's job to help her with the terms of any deals she signed with these countries; Zuko's job to make sure those terms did not leave the nation vulnerable to attack and Ty Lee's job to make sure that her popularity at home wasn't adversely affected.

They had today off, but tomorrow morning, they would all be meeting bright and early to make sure everything was ready, which means, they better not get trashed.

The servants worked until the very last minute to get everything ready. For the first time in over 100 years, they had to decorate in the color of all the Nations. The guests started to arrive. They were escorted to a seating area outside.

Now that Azula was on the same continent as Arnook and Kuei, she was able to sign armistice agreements with both of them.

With a smile on her face, the Fire Lord went in front of a cheering crowd and after a heartfelt speech about how the costs of war she said that it was finally over, holding up the pieces of paper and said "tomorrow is for rebuilding, but tonight is for celebrating."

The crowd cheered as the party was on.

Kuei was with his own advisors. "Who is that scowling girl?"

"That's Mai. She's in charge of foreign relations."

"Oh goody, and that bubbly girl with her."

"Ty Lee, community relations."

He, of course, recognized Zuko. His scar made him stand out. There was some talk in the Earth Kingdom nobility that neither sibling deserved the Crown after the fall of Ba Sing Se, but Iroh refused to take it. "Would he have made a better Fire Lord?"

"Better for whom? Probably better for us, but Azula's the smarter choice if you're the Fire Nation."

* * *

Arnook had his own people advising him on the Fire Nation affairs.

"We heard from Bato that Sokka and Azula are a couple and it's serious."

"Marriage serious?"

"Possibly."

That would be a double-edged sword for the Northern Water Tribe. It would ensure that the Fire Nation would not start a war with the tribes again, but it would give the Southern Water Tribe an advantage over them.

"Who will run the tribe in that case once Hakoda retires?"

They didn't know.

When Arnook asked Hakoda, he got the following answer. "I'm not sure who will run it, but I am sure we will be in good hands." They had a few options: picking their best warrior and making him chief, seeing if Sokka or Katara produced a son who was old enough to take over before Hakoda retired, if Katara married a man from the tribes, he could be chief."

"You're not worried about losing your heir."

"No. I think Sokka will be able to do much better work for the world right here."

Hakoda saw his son, dancing with the young Fire Lord. He worn the traditional blue and white of the tribe. He and Azula agreed that it would be more appropriate to wear his nation's colors today, but Azula hoped that eventually, he would get used to red and black. She thought he would look good in them.

As the older people talked of the war and politics, the younger generation worked on gossiping and flirting. Some of the boys from the north took an interest in the bubbly acrobat. She laughed as they told her terrible jokes. Mai looked on, annoyed with what looked like Ember Island II.

* * *

Aang and Toph were hanging out with Teo and some other kids from the Northern Air Temple. Zuko was getting sloshed. He and Uncle had made up, sort of. His uncle tried to explain that it wasn't an easy decision for him, and it wasn't about who he thought would be the better Fire Lord overall, but who was in a better position to lead right now.

Azula had the jump on him. She knew how to get him to not interfere with her coronation. She had the sages on her side and she could likely get most of the world leaders to support her reign by the end of the night. She was a master planner, and she planned for every contingency.

"This sucks," Zuko grumbled as he chugged his whiskey.

"I can see you're having a blast," Suki teased.

Zuko looked her up and down. Her green dress complimented her quite nicely, and he struggled not to just stare at her chest. "Shouldn't you be flirting with mindless boys?"

"Ouch! No, they seem to have all flocked towards Ty Lee. What is it with her anyway?"

"She's bubbly and overdeveloped for her age. The sad part is, she's more likely to chi block them and go back to her room than give any of them the time of day."

"But if she does that, then this will be more entertaining."

"You want to see entertaining?" Zuko took Suki's hand and lead her to a private courtyard. He took in the last of his whiskey and breathed out a huge plume of fire.

Suki was impressed and a little frightened. "Aren't you afraid of setting your face on fire?"

"I haven't done it yet."

"Is this suitable behavior for a Crown Prince?"

"I don't worry too much about that anymore. If Azula is suitable as a Fire Lord, then nothing absent murder could make me a bad Crown Prince."

Zuko threw up a firewall behind Suki. She jumped at the heat, landing in his arms.

He grinned as he kissed her. "I knew you couldn't resist me," he teased.

"You're terrible."

"Oh I know it." Being good had gotten Zuko no where. Let's see where being naughty gets him.

* * *

Azula was right. Bad boys are more fun.

Chan came up to Azula. "Congratulations on your throne."

"Thanks," Azula said dryly.

They started talking, mostly Chan talking about himself with Azula pretending to listen.

"So I take it when you get married, you'll be the Fire Lady and your husband will be the Fire Lord."

Azula frowned. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well, my father said that the man always rules, even if he's not of royal blood."

"Well, he can forget that and so can you. One, I'm not giving my crown to anybody unless I'm ready to pass it on to one of my heirs and two, I'll rule and he can be the Fire Man."

"Fire Man?"

"Well Fire Lady won't work. Well, I'll let you be Fire Lady if you wear a dress."

He ran off. Sokka came back. "Who was that?"

"Chan. He's not important."

"Let's dance." Azula looked stunning in her dress. Sokka had no intention of letting her go tonight, especially when he knew she'd be busy all day tomorrow.

Katara had wondered off by herself when Ruan Jion approached her.

"I like your eyes," he said.

She quickly shut them. "What color are they?"

"Blue."

"Oh, you actually did see them."

"You thought it was just a line."

"It usually is."

* * *

Suki got Zuko into his room and she was about to leave when he said, "stay."

She turned to him. His shirt was off. He was just in his dress pants. He was really cute. She didn't mind his scar. She minded that his father had the nerve to scar him, but not that it was there.

Before she could ask what he wanted, he leaned and kissed her. Unlike her gentler kisses with Sokka, this one was rushed and needy. She found herself kissing him back, her fingertips in his hair.

Mai had been a complacent girlfriend, but she always seemed more like a ghost than a girl. She was more passionate when she yelled at him after her breakup than she had been during their entire relationship. He knew this was a stupid idea. She'd never want to be his princess and join the Fire Nation, but he hated what the future had in store for him, Azula as his sovereign and his boss. He needed to do something she couldn't stop, something the Queen of control couldn't control. Tonight, he chose sin.

Suki wondered what in Kyoshi's name she was doing here. Zuko burned down her village. He once represented everything she despised about the Fire Nation. I'm not taking over the world because I want to; I'm doing it to restore my honor, like kidnapping people is honorable.

She wasn't this kind of girl. She hadn't even had sex before, and her first time was going to be with a guy she barely knew. She knew of him. They had spent time together, but never one on one before now. She did, however, love the feeling of being wanted. Zuko was burning for her right now, even if it was just for one night, he had a desire that Sokka never had when he looked at her. She pulled him on top of her. She wasn't going to be sweet and innocent anymore.

* * *

Mai couldn't figure out why Ty Lee wasted her time with such vacant men. Put them all together and they weren't as smart as she was.

"Having fun Gloomy?" Toph questioned as she approached.

"Oh, a blast."

"Don't like the boys here, huh."

"Just not boy crazed, like everyone else."

"Looks like they all like Ty Lee."

"What else is new?"

"Sounds like someone's jealous."

"She can have all of those stupid boys."

"I don't think you're jealous of Ty Lee. I think you're jealous of the boys." Toph's feet didn't lie to her. She left Mai to ponder.

"Why would I be jealous of the boys?" That would only make sense if I wanted Ty Lee. Yeah right, like I could date that giggling ditz. Just because she has a pretty face and perfect body doesn't mean I want her. Just because she's an acrobat and can probably do things to her body that I can't even imagine doesn't mean anything.

Mai's heart started to race. Does the fact that I'm imagining her naked right now mean anything?

Iroh found himself having a whiskey with some of the Lotus.

"I never thought I'd see this day," Bumi said as he finished his glass.

"Are you happy with how this all turned out?" Jeong Jeong asked the Prince.

"I'm surprised, but I think Sokka managed to do something that I thought was impossible." He unfroze the Princess's heart. Sure, she was still arrogant and bitchy, but she wasn't ruthless, unless it came to fending herself from suitors.

Like usual, Ty Lee chi blocked her suitors at the end of the night and fled upstairs. She asked Mai if she had any luck.

"None of the boys caught my eye."

"That's alright. Next time, I'm sure there will be someone special."

Mai had gotten drunk while she had been watching Ty Lee amuse herself with those boys.

"I think there is someone special."

Mai leaned in and kissed her, catching the acrobat by surprise, as she had been about to suggest they have a sleepover. She froze and then she kissed Mai back tentatively. She managed to break the kiss. "Mai, what are we doing?"

"I thought we were kissing."

"I know, but what do you want? Do you want someone to kiss for right now? Do you want a girlfriend?"

Mai wasn't sure what she wanted. "I hadn't thought that far ahead yet."

"Okay." Ty Lee kissed her back. Sometimes, you don't know what happens until afterwards.

Azula left as soon as it was socially acceptable for her to do so. She wanted to give Sokka fun night in bed since she wouldn't be around tomorrow. "You can use the cuffs tonight."

"HOT!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chan was ready to go after his embarrassing conversation with the Fire Lord. His friend Ruon Jian, however, seemed perfectly content where he was. Katara intrigued him. He was used to the shallow beach elite, the bimbos as it were and since his signature move was flipping his hair, most would think he was a mimbo, but he really had just lacked ambition.

Here she was, a peasant, really, even though her father was the leader of his tribe, but she was more interesting than most of the girls that he did know, having grown up in what sounded like a giant snow bank.

"When we were kids, our favorite thing to do was go penguin sledding."

"You would sled on the penguin?"

"Oh yes, you just grab one and jump on its back."

"Won't it throw you off?"

"No, but eventually you'll fall off."

When he tried to picture a creature just sliding in the ice on its belly, he just laughed.

"What's so fully?"

"I tried to picture well any creature here letting you ride it's back while it slides on its belly, but it all ends in well disaster."

Katara wasn't sure what she thought of him yet, but he was easy on the eyes, and he was interested in her. "What do you like to do?"

"Well, I would throw parties with my friend Chan, but I'm getting kind of old for that, I mean I still like parties, but I think I need more to life than being 'one of the cool kids' and acting like we're hot shots because our parents leave their beach houses empty for months at a tie."

"What do you want to do?"

"I have no idea," he said honestly.

He was seemingly a blank slate, interesting.

* * *

Ty Lee's kisses were tender and sweet. The acrobat had gotten on top and the assassin let her, yielding to the other girl's experience. She would moan happily as Ty Lee kissed her neck and jaw line. She had never done much other than kiss with Zuko. She wasn't sure how far they were going tonight, but right now she was overwhelmed with combination desire and nervousness, along with confusion about her feelings for her best friend.

Her affection for her pink-loving friend hit her like a sky ship tonight, but it had been slowly building for a long time. She recalled how jealous she would get when Ty Lee was being courted and the nasty things she would say in the back of her mind. She wanted her. She had wanted her for … she couldn't name the precise moment, not right now.

Ty Lee was unzipping Mai's dress, kissing her collarbone and tugging at her binding. She wanted to make her friend feel really good right now. Mai needed someone who would think about her. Zuko had been good at thinking about himself, and even though Azula had been much kinder since her relationship with Sokka started to blossom, her focus was still on the crown and Mai's ability to contribute to it. Ty Lee could just be Mai's, so she would be, at least for one night.

She rubbed Mai's breasts through her bra. "Oh Ty!" She arched her back, pressing herself into the acrobat's hands, and she found the pleasure drowned out her thoughts. Ty Lee put her hands on the clasp, her eyes asking permission to take them off.

Mai nodded weakly, the undergarment removed and Ty Lee just cupped them. They were medium sized, but Ty Lee liked that they fit in her small hands perfectly. She kissed each one gently, going all over them before she sucked a nipple into her mouth.

Mai tried not to drool as her friend took her time working her way down her body. The chi blocker found her way in between Mai's legs. The girl was naked in front of her. Mai suddenly said, "no fair! You're dressed still."

"You didn't take them off," Ty Lee said teasingly.

Mai flipped her over, pulling the dress off her body. She went after the offending undergarments next until she was naked. Ty Lee was gorgeous and she had seen her naked before, but never like this. She froze.

"Do you want to touch me?"

Mai panted before she nodded.

Ty Lee smiled, taking Mai's hands and guided them on her taut body, showing her how she liked to have her breasts touched and meowing as Mai's confidence grew. She took over, moving her hands and skin down Ty Lee's body until she got to her wetness, but she didn't know what to do.

"Let me show you," Ty Lee flipped Mai over and started nipping at her thighs, making her squirm before using her fingertips to tease Mai's folds. She moved expertly. Mai knew not how many women had been where she was right now, but it was a great place to be. She closed her eyes and moaned as Ty Lee's fingers made their way inside and just when she thought it couldn't get any better, her friend started using her tongue.

"OH FUCK!"

Mai's hands were tangled in Ty Lee's hair, the pleasure overtaking any sense of control she had over her urges. Ty Lee kept going eagerly until Mai was spent. She kissed her way back up to Mai's face, content with her work.

* * *

Suki and Zuko were fast asleep, both of them tired after their first experience with pleasure. It had been more enjoyable for him than it had been for her, but she liked it. She was naked as she came, curled into his arm, her head resting against his chest. They were tangled and when daylight broke, they would find themselves in bed, unsure of what they were thinking and where they will go from here, but for now, they can just sleep blissfully.

* * *

Azula's hands were handcuffed behind her back. Sokka had her on her knees, sucking him as he played with her hair. There was something amazing about having the world's most powerful firebender, the woman's whose influence was unrivaled except the for the Avatar's submitting to him, the goofy nonbender who grew up in a snow bank, well Azula was convinced he had just lived in a snow bank.

Azula was one who liked to be in control of everything. When she handed him the cuffs, it was more than just fun sex. It was her active choice to share with him, to be vulnerable to him to let him lead sometimes.

After putting on a condom, he pulled her onto his cock, setting her up to ride him and he watched her chest rise and fall as she balanced herself without her arms.

"OH SOKKA!" her moans melded with his grunts perfectly as she rode. He couldn't keep her up too late, but he wanted to have at least two goes at this. Eventually, he grabbed her hips and began to thrust hard and fast.

"OH FUCK!" he grunted as he found himself getting close. She was tightening around him. Neither of them would last much longer. He started to cum first but he kept going until she was right with him.

After they recovered, he pushed her forward, putting her on her shoulders and knees, her perfect ass in the air. He slapped it before grabbing her hips and ramming her wetness.

"OH FUCK!" she yelled into the mattress. He started to fuck her, knowing that she would cum quickly since she was still sensitive.

"OH AGNI!" she started to gush, her mouth hanging open and her eyes about to bug out of her head.

Sokka uncuffed her but he stayed in control, pushing her freed arms forward and staying on top.

Azula found it sexy when he dominated her. Something about having to let go of her control issues was really exciting. "OH!" she whimpered as he continued to nail her. Eventually, he flipped her over, pulling her into his arms and kissing her tenderly. He sped up again and then he lost it inside her.

The two lovebirds fell asleep.

* * *

When Zuko did wake up the next morning, he almost yelled in surprise. His servant had come to check on him and make sure he was getting ready for the meeting. He was surprised, although his face didn't show it, to find his Prince in bed with a woman. Zuko pulled the sheet over them, covering her sleeping body as the servant reminded him he had better get a move on.

"Shall I draw your bath?"

"I got it, actually, draw it and then have breakfast sent up here for Suki when she is dressed."

"Of course, Prince."

He left her a note.

"Didn't want to just ditch you, but I have to work."

He left it on the nightstand and started to get ready. He just realized how hungover he was. Well, today's going to suck.

Suki woke up naked and sore. Zuko was gone. Did he regret it? She didn't. She saw the note. Oh yeah. He has a job here. A female servant came to tend to her, getting her bath ready and washing her. Suki wasn't used to being washed, but she was in the Crown Prince's room, clearly a step up from just being a guest.

They brought her some clothes, casual ones since the festivities were over and they delivered her breakfast to the suite. She appreciated that, not quite ready to face her friends yet.

* * *

Azula found herself in a meeting with Kuei, Arnook, Hakoda and Aang. Mai was one side and Zuko was at her other side. Kuei brought an advisor and General Fong. Arnook had two of his men Hakoda came with Bato and Aang brought Toph since everyone else had people.

Everyone wanted something different. Kuei wanted sanctions and for individuals responsible for the overthrow of his Kingdom to be held accountable. Arnook was looking for reparation money. Hakoda needed people to rebuild more than anything else and Aang needed to rebuild the Air Temples, and he needed people to live in them.

Azula needed to give away as little money as possible and she came up with a way to do it. She decided to start with the most agreeable people and work her way downwards.

"Let's try to allocate resources in the most efficient way possible. I have men, lots of them and they need work. Aang needs people to rebuild his Air Temples. Aang, will you accept my former soldiers as your construction crew?

He didn't see a problem with that. "Sure."

"Done."

"Hakoda, you need people as well, and I assume you are in need of waterbenders." The royal family had a secret group of waterbenders who had taken care of their healing needs during the war. They were often born in captivity by waterbenders who were taken hostage during the war and then taken from their mothers to serve the Fire Nation. They never saw combat in case they wanted to rejoin "their people," but now that the war was over, Azula could hire waterbenders if she needed them.

Azula offered to send him waterbenders that had grown up in the Fire Nation. "They will need to be taught how to build things, but they are competent benders." They worked out a fixed price for each bender that agreed to go to take off the reparation amount and the Fire Nation agreed to send tools and construction supplies as they had plenty in stock from weapon factories that would not be built and could recycle parts from factories they planned to tear down.

Arnook was a bit more difficult. Azula thought his numbers were inflated when he told her how much they had lost. Especially the 50,000 coins he wanted for Zhao's attempt to kill the moon spirit.

Azula knew if she paid it then Kuei would try to go crazy. She looked to Mai, _please come up with something._

"Perhaps we could negotiate trade routes first and come back to the money later," Mai said.

"Why would we want to do that?" Arnook retorted.

"Your tribe abandoned certain routes during the war and among them valuable fishing posts which the Fire Nation has since occupied. I'm sure (in exchange for a reduced price on the reparations), Azula would gladly return control of some of those routes in a part of a larger reconciliation package.

Arnook got the message, less money now in exchange for a more lucrative deal down the line. It allowed her to show lower numbers to her own people and look like less of a pushover. He could refuse, but then Azula could hold onto the posts, which would surely make his own people angry.

"Let's discuss trading routes, shall we."

Eventually, they came to an agreement leaving Kuei as the last aggrieved party. Due to the time, they decided to break for the day and meet again tomorrow.

Azula had paid more than she had hoped she would have to, but it could have been a lot worse.

"Nice save Mai."

"All in a days work."

Azula knew something was up with Mai and Ty Lee. Ty Lee kept smiling at her and Mai would get all jumpy and excited like a little kid with a stack of fire flakes. Azula didn't want to ask. It was the first time she had seen Mai excited in ages and she didn't want to jinx it.

When the Fire Lord got to her office, she had unexpected visitors.

It was the Dai Li, well some of them.

"Hello my Lord," they bowed to her.

"I understand that Kuei has reduced you all to an administrative role."

"Kuei is a simpleton who went from having one puppet master to a different one. We prefer to ally ourselves with a leader with gumption."

"I'm sure you know that I have to negotiate with him tomorrow."

"Of course, which is why we brought you a little present."

She smiled when she got the stack of papers and smirked when she had read them. They detailed various war crimes committed by the Earth Kingdom including torture, kidnappings, feigning surrender just to attack and included information suggesting that they had enslaved water tribe women who had come to the Earth Kingdom for sanctuary, making them concubines for important Earth Kingdom nobles.

"Is this to your liking?"

"It is, and you will be rewarded handsomely."

The next day, the leaders were set to meet at 10AM. Azula stopped by Kuei's door first. Only his advisor was in.

"Making house calls," he said snidely.

"I was going to discuss our impending end of war agreement. There are matters we have to discuss that I am sure that Kuei would not want the other leaders to hear."

"Like what?"

Azula loved watching him squirm. The advisor tried to deny everything, but his heart was racing and he was sweating buckets.

"I know that you're lying. Your own voice is betraying you, cracking like you are a 11 year old boy."

"You can't prove any of this."

"I can, but even if I couldn't. If Arnook and Hakoda just hear it, you're done for."

"What do you want?"

"I want Kuei to pardon the Dai Li and to officially decree that Long Feng was the sole party responsible for the fall of Ba Sing Se and that his treason will be punished appropriately. I want for the reparation numbers to lose these extra zeros at the end and his assurances that he won't kick my people out of Yu Dao. It has been a very successful colony and we can discuss ownership, but my people should not be punished for Sozin's greed."

"This is outrageous."

"Is it because where I stand the Earth Kingdom's conduct has been outrageous and I think the rest of the world will agree with me."

Needless to say, Kuei cursed quite loudly when he heard the Princess's demands. He adamantly refused and when they got to the meeting he said, "I won't play you're little game," to her.

"Fine," she said.

"Before we discuss the end of the war agreement with the Earth Kingdom, I would like to enter into evidence the following documents as evidence of the Earth Kingdom's own criminal conduct and culpability in the Hundred Years' War."

Before she could finish her sentence, the councilman blurted out, "just take the deal Kuei. End this nonsense."

"This is blackmail," Kuei cried.

"I think its only fair that all the evidence be heard before a decision is made."

The other leaders were oblivious to what was going on between the two countries, but it was clearly ugly. Eventually, Kuei agreed to all of Azula's demands and the deal was signed.

"I would like to say for the record I am signing this deal under duress."

They did not put his utterance in the record.

Mai wondered what Azula did to get Kuei to agree, but she did not ask. If Azula didn't volunteer the information, then Mai didn't want it.

Zuko was bored. He didn't have to do anything. The sanctions never happened since Azula turned the military into a construction crew and is tearing down the factories since they created so much pollution. There was nothing left for the nations to debate.

* * *

Each sovereign took a copy of the agreement back home to explain to his constituents. Hakoda and Bato were finally going back to the tribe and Katara went with them. Ruon Jian said he would write to her.

"I'm counting on it."

Aang went to the Northern Air Temple to meet with his people and then he and Toph were going to Gaoling to try and reconcile with her parents. Hopefully, they realized he wasn't a kidnapper.

* * *

Kuei left with his tail between his legs. His puppeteers would have to do a better job to keep up with the Fire Lord.

Arnook found his resolution agreeable but not ideal. It is oft the case with politics.

There were some internal skirmishes about the agreements, but Ty Lee did her job and talked up the agreement to the nobility, starting with her family and Mai's, emphasizing how was using extra resources within the country to lower the reparations they were paying out and that the young military men would stay employed.

It may never be known if it was her eloquence or her bust that got people on her side, but Ty Lee had a way with the people. Her perkiness kept Azula popular.

* * *

When thet had the Autumn Festival, it was Azula's first public event as Fire Lord. The crowd cheered. Ozai was not much for public appearances and neither was Azulon. Like Sozin, Azula wanted to be the People's Fire Lord, using her stage presence to enamor the crowd.

It was that moment when Zuko realized that Azula was born to do this. She didn't just have the firebending and the cunning nature, but she had the will of the people. He didn't know what his own destiny was, but he needed to find it instead of being his sister's bitter employee. He gave his thirty-day notice and set out to find himself.

"Sure you won't get lost Zuzu. You don't have Uncle to guide you."

"I'll be fine," he said dryly.

"Be sure you visit your little girlfriend." Suki wasn't his girlfriend. They both agreed that with their responsibilities on different continents, it just didn't make sense for them to be together. He thought about her a lot. He wished things had been different.

"Shut up!"


	18. Chapter 18

AN: I swear I have an ending planned for this story. I'm just not sure how I'm going to get to it. Here's some Zuko time, and a little TAANG.

* * *

Zuko set sail for Gaoling. It took him six days to get there because of poor weather and possibly taking the wrong route for a few hours. He had only been in town for an hour before he saw a group of punks trying to rob an old man. He charged at them, using his firebending to force them to run.

"I can't believe they tried to rob you in daylight."

"Oh it's been terrible since the Fire Nation left."

"What?"

"Not that we liked them here either, but they were strict about youth transgressions. Now that they are gone, these 'kids' have gone buck wild." The old man coughed as he took his satchel that the boys had tried to steal. He wanted to get home quickly before some other punks tried to rob him.

Zuko wondered how often this problem was occurring in cities where the Fire Nation had exercised influence. He decided to stick around for a little while and see what he could find.

He started to realize that the thieves had a pattern. They would target weak looking people, old people, people with canes, etc, and they would always pick a spot near a cross section, so they could take off in different directions, confusing anyone who wanted to give chase.

Zuko took his observations to the police only to get laughed at.

"So there's street crime. What's new?"

"Aren't you supposed to be stopping it?"

"Yeah, when we get to all of the serious crime issues we have."

"You don't think people getting violently attacked is serious crime."

"I would if we didn't have to deal with hit men and tax evasion."

"TAX EVASION!"

* * *

The Prince got thrown out on his ass after berating them loudly. Zuko decided to take matters into his own hands, rescuing people when they were in trouble. He was the Crown Prince and the Fire Nation was at least partially responsible. He would make these thieves go away.

Over the next few days, Zuko hid waiting for thugs to attack and then would ambush them. His work had mix results.

Sometimes people were grateful for his efforts. Many people ran when they saw a firebender approaching, even though he was helping them. Some gave him their money, thinking he was there to rob them.

He realized he wouldn't be able to firebend to protect these people and he decided to use his dao swords. The Blue Spirit was coming back.

* * *

While he was a crime-fighting vigilante, Aang and Toph were also at work trying to keep world order. Their visit to Gaoling had been somewhat okay. Lao was glad to hear that his daughter was a war hero, but when he suggested more etiquette lessons, so she could find a proper suitor, Toph again snuck away in the middle of the night and they went to Ba Sing Se.

Kuei was having trouble running the country. He had all of the Joo Dees needed to be treated for their brainwashing. Azula had collapsed the ring system when she conquered the city, and now that the people from the Lower Ring had a taste of the Upper Ring, they were refusing to go back home. The nobles were insistent that their rings become "pure" again and Aang was struggling to figure out what he should do.

Of course he wanted order, but it seemed unfair to tell people that they weren't good enough for the luxuries of the Upper Ring, that their could coins weren't enough to buy what a rich man's five coins could buy.

He tried to negotiate, but both sides were stuck in their ways. Some people were taking advantage of the chaos and looting stores in the Upper Ring, further convincing the nobility that the lower classes needed to be kept out.

Toph was tired. "This sucks." War was fun, but running around chasing thieves was exhausting. As soon as she caught one, two more popped up. When there was war, it was a clear our side vs. yours, but here, there was no organization. It was just lawlessness.

The new police were inexperienced with the city. The thieves new it better and could hide quite well.

Aang sat down next to her. "I know. I feel like no matter who's side I take, there will just be riots."

They went to visit Iroh.

"Hey Gramps!" Toph greeted him when they got to the Jasmine Dragon.

"Toph, Aang, what brings you here?"

"We needed a break," Aang told them.

"This city is a hot mess."

Aang explained his problem trying to deal with Ba Sing Se's segregation.

Toph had issues with the inept police force. "I know why they demoted the Dai Li, but I wish they had waited until they trained these new guys. They don't know much of anything."

Iroh served their tea. "Maybe it would be worthwhile to focus on training the police for now, so they can catch the thieves later. Sure, some guys would get away, but that's happening now anyway and if the police force is trained, then the city will be more self-sufficient."

"True."

"Got any wise words for me," Aang asked with a laugh.

"Hmm. You're problem is trickier." It made sense that the nobility wanted the Upper Ring to stay more exclusive, but the lower ring paid taxes too. Why shouldn't they get the benefits of the upper ring? "Maybe if Kuei agreed to fix up the Lower Ring, there would be less outrage over the Upper Ring's exclusiveness."

"That's a great idea."

Aang took it to the feuding groups and those in the Lower Ring liked this even better, so they didn't have to travel as far. The Upper Ring was glad to keep them out and everyone was happy except for Kuei.

"I can't afford to pay for that!"

"Then what do you think you should do?"

"Can't they just forget they ever saw the Upper Ring."

Aang shook his head.

When the people heard Kuei balked on the renovations, the protesting only got worse.

People started yelling, "No Justice no Peace."

"Not even the Fire Nation Segregates."

And Toph's personal favorite, "FUCK KUEI!"

When the police ordered the protesters to stop congregating outside the palace or get arrested, the riots broke out. People were throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails, and fires were being set in the streets. The looting became a problem everywhere and Kuei was about to deploy the military on his own city.

* * *

After cleaning up Gaoling, Zuko had been ready to head for Omashu when he heard about the riots.

"I hear Kuei's going to send the military into the streets and declare martial law."

"What? Why?" Zuko questioned, intruding into the shopkeeper's conversation.

"He's lost control of the city. The people have been rioting for over a week."

Zuko decided to pay Iroh a visit and see what was going on in the city. If Aang wasn't already there, he should be on his way.

The Avatar was asleep. It was early morning and he spent all night making sure no one got hurt in the riots. As soon as he got the angry mob to back off, the police would advance on them, and they'd strike back.

It left Aang sleeping during the daytime while Toph was trying to teach the police how to control crowds. Now, they were only good at pissing them off.

"You can't just charge at them like bull oxen. You have to box them in and get them to back down."

She was just about to call her break when she felt Zuko walking down the street.

"SPARKY!"

"Hey Toph. What's going on?"

"Just trying to keep order in this stupid place. Why aren't you at home?"

"I quit my job and decided I needed to find a real purpose in life."

"Being a pretty boy Prince wasn't enough for you."

"Guess not! Where's Aang?"

"Sleeping like a bum."

"What?"

"He's been dealing with rioters all night, so he sleeps during the day now. I never see him awake unless we're out dealing with protesters."

Zuko went to go find his uncle.

"Zuko!" Iroh hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

He explained how he quit his job and went to Gaoling. "They had so much crime. I had to help them." He heard about the problems here and came to offer his support.

"I am proud that you are finding your own way," Iroh told him.

"I had to let go of the Crown."

"So did I. Now tell me, what's going on with you and Suki?"

"Nothing," Zuko insisted.

"Really? I think there's something there."

"But we're too far away for it to work."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can't write to her. You might not always be so far away from each other and if you keep up communication now, you can have a chance later."

"I guess."

"Think about it Zuko."

Zuko finished his tea and was about to ask his uncle a question when they both saw a giant plume of fire. The military was here and it was on.

The two Princes ran outside.


	19. Chapter 19

Azula received word from her diplomats that Kuei had declared martial law in Ba Sing Se. Oh Agni.

"What does that mean?" Sokka questioned.

"It means he's using his military to enforce order. If the citizens get out of line, well …"

"That's horrible. How can he do that?"

"He must have lost control of his city."

"We have to stop him."

"What? How?"

"You're a political genius. Think of something."

"But it's not my country."

"So. This is supposed to be a time of peace. What does it say about us if Kuei kills his own citizens and we just sit back and go, too bad for those Earth Kingdom people?"

Azula was surprised. Sokka seldom got involved in her politics. "You really want me to do something."

He looked at her. "An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere."

Azula sent Mai and Ty Lee to try to negotiate a ceasefire in Ba Sing Se. She thought her own presence may be problematic since she had organized a coup of the city and well she blackmailed Kuei the last time she saw him.

"Be careful," she said. "You maybe under attack by both sides."

"We survived the war we will survive this," Mai said as they got ready to go.

* * *

They took a sky ship and when they arrived, it was chaos. People were bleeding in the streets. Soldiers were fighting with war hammers and large earth coins. Civilians had homemade bombs. Some of them had bows and arrows.

Mai saw Zuko and Iroh in the fray, fighting alongside the civilians. He was dressed as the Blue Spirit, but it was obviously him, since he was right next to Iroh.

She saw a soldier advance on him, and she used her stilettos to pin the man to the ground.

Zuko turned. "Mai?"

He made it across the battlefield, i.e. the street. "What are you doing here?"

"Azula sent us to try to negotiate an end to all of this."

"Thank Agni. It's crazy. Soldiers were trying to use rock attacks to keep the people out of the Upper Ring. They damaged some of the homes and businesses near by and the owner went nuts, joining the 'miscreants' they had been trying to get rid of before. It's total chaos."

"Where's the Avatar?"

"Trying to negotiate with Kuei."

Mai and Ty Lee headed for the palace. When they got there, the guards wouldn't let them in.

"You don't have an appointment."

"Duh, we came to help solve a crisis. Who would know to schedule a state of emergency?"

"You still don't' have an appointment."

Mai was about to knock him out when she heard a voice.

"Follow me."

She and Ty Lee left to see Toph.

"What's going on?"

"I quit the police since I refused to support this martial law bullshit and Aang is in there now, trying to talk sense into Kuei."

"Can you get us inside?" Ty Lee asked.

"Duh!"

Toph earthbended them into the palace, leading them into the conference room. The wall opened and they spilled inside.

"What are you doing here?" Kuei questioned.

"The Fire Lord sent us to assist you in settling this problem."

He laughed bitterly. "That's rich. She caused the problem."

Aang explained how the dispute was over segregating the rings. At this point, he thought it better to integrate than to fight his own people.

Kuei disagreed. The nobility made it very clear that if he didn't keep the hooligans out, they would pull their financial backing and might even decide it's time for a new royal family.

Mai tried to offer compromises like day passes for the people in the lower ring or expanding the education system so that there could be more upward mobility for people. It all fell on deaf ears as Kuei was determined to solve this problem his way.

He unceremoniously kicked Mai and Ty Lee out of the palace. "And stay out."

Aang was furious. "How long are you going to let this continue? Your people are killing each other in the streets and you sit here letting it happen. You have no business being a king at all."

Aang went to join Toph outside "I'm getting no where with him."

Mai sent word of her encounter with Kuei to the Fire Lord. In the mean time, she could only meet with her other allies here and try to figure out a way to stop the madness.

Aang was able to get a ceasefire every night from 10PM to 5AM, but that was the closest to peace he had been able to accomplish.

Instead of sleeping, the group met in the Jasmine Dragon.

"I don't even know where to start," Aang said.

"I do," said Toph. "Why not just knock these Earth Kingdom soldiers on their asses? Didn't you take down like an entire Fire Nation fleet?"

"When I merged with La after they killed Tui. I can't just do that on command. I don't even think I should be able to do that."

"I hate to say this to you Toph, but if you attack the military, you could be accused of treason," Iroh added.

"You took that chance, and so must I. Not even the Fire Nation tried to deploy the military against its own city."

"We need more firepower," Zuko said. "Yes we are a formidable group, but we have a lot of chaos out there. Not every soldier is bad. Many of them are trying to keep order. Some of them, however, are looting and pillaging and the same goes for the civilians that are rioting. We don't know whom to trust on either side."

"We should ask for reinforcements," Iroh said.

Zuko wrote to Suki on Kyoshi Island asking if they could help.

Aang wrote to Hakoda and Arnook, explaining the problem in Ba Sing Se. He wasn't sure if either of them could get there in time, but any advice they could offer as sovereigns was greatly appreciated.

Suki had been surprised to hear that Zuko was trying to keep the peace in Ba Sing Se, talk about role reversal.

The warriors voted, and it was unanimous. It was time to save the capital. They got on the first sky ship they could to Ba Sing Se and when they got there, they were surprised by their welcoming.

Zuko waited every day for Suki to arrive and when she did, he was so excited that he ran to her and kissed her, sweeping her off her feet and stunning the warrior, her friends and everyone else around them.

"Is this how you always greet your fellow soldier?" she teased.

"I'm sorry. I was just so excited to see you."

She smiled. He had been thinking about her while he was away that much was obvious. "So are we going to get debriefed or what?"

Zuko caught the warriors up to speed. Suki wanted to try her own luck with the King before she attacked his military. The guards wouldn't let her in at first, but then they relented.

The King had just ordered more troops to come in from Omashu. When he saw Suki, he was surprised.

"Suki, do come in? To what do I owe this visit?"

"I heard there was trouble, and I wanted to help."

He started to explain his plight.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the palace Sokka was stressing out over the whole incident.

"How could it still be going on?"

"Well, a war did go on for 100 years. This has only been a few weeks."

"A few weeks too long. It never should have happened."

"This is what happens when you give a little man a big crown. The Avatar should have replaced him with a smarter man after the war."

"Can he do that?"

"Why not? Aang is extremely popular and Kuei was clearly inept when it came to ruling, but now it's too late. It would be problematic to wait all this time and then declare him inept."

"We must do more."

"He rejected my diplomatic team. What else can I do?"

"You took the city once with only two other girls. You can't think of what to do with an entire country?"

"Unless I invade and make them stop fighting, what else could I do?"

Sokka's eyes lit up.

"You have to be kidding me. If I invade him after just signing a peace agreement less than four months ago, I will be seen as a dictator."

"Maybe it could be a joint effort. If you didn't go in alone, then it wouldn't look like you were restarting the war."

Azula couldn't even believe she was considering this. "Who are you and what did you do with Sokka?"

Suki tried to explain the other side to him. "How would you feel if you were told you weren't good enough to go to Omashu and you had to stay in Ba Sing Se all of the time?"

"I would be furious."

"Now multiply that feeling by the thousand. This is why the people are fighting. You have to find a better way."

"But I will lose my supporters."

"Who cares if you lose your supporters if you destroy your own capital city? Who will support you then?"

The Council of Five came. It was time for an emergency meeting.

"Please excuse me Suki."

She left, hoping her words sank in.


	20. Chapter 20

The tides were turning. The military was being driven back now that the rebels had skilled fighters to organize them.

Aang hoped that they would back down, and they could find a way to integrate the city. "The more I talked to Kuei, the less I understood why he thought it was okay to treat some of his citizens like they were substandard. They aren't criminals or anything."

"Kings try to keep things the way they are," Mai said. "They don't have to make sense.

Over the next week, the fighting started to slow down. As the civilians got tired, they started showing up in smaller numbers and the ceasefire each day would start earlier and earlier.

"This is it," Aang told them. "Your chance to make the fighting stop."

"I know," Kuei said. "I have it all under control."

Bumi got the command from Kuei to send his troops to Ba Sing Se and wondered what the hell was going on to warrant such actions. He called in his generals and asked them if they had any idea what was going on in the capital city.

"I heard that the lower ring started revolting because they wanted to be able to visit the Upper Ring and Kuei said no."

Bumi shook his head. He started martial law over some classist bullshit? He sighed. "Well, I have to bring some troops to Ba Sing Se. He didn't say I had to deploy them. Send out the conscriptions. I want young men who hadn't been called in a while."

"Yes, your Highness."

Back in the Palace, Sokka was sending correspondence with both his father and Chief Arnook. His father couldn't make it. It was too close to the winter and they hadn't caught all of the whales they need to survive it yet. He couldn't afford to send any men away.

Arnook, however, was in a better situation at his tribe, but he wanted to try diplomatic means before deploying his troops.

He agreed to meet Sokka in the Earth Kingdom capital and see if they could reach a solution.

Azula wasn't sure what she should do at this point. She had two options, do nothing and hope for the best, or deploy her troops into Ba Sing Se and get it under control. The first plan seemed unacceptable to her boyfriend and the second plan would likely be unacceptable to the world.

She had a meeting with some of the councilmen who had expressed their own concerns about the Earth Kingdom.

"Trade has really slowed down with this rioting in the capital city. We are looking at some serious losses on our exports for the year if their stores don't get reopened."

"I hardly think that justifies an invasion," Azula retorted.

"It doesn't, but isn't the whole point of the deal you made to promote peace. How can a King be peaceful if he attacks his own citizens?"

"What are you suggesting, invade in the interest of human rights?"

"If someone could sell it, I bet you could."

Azula liked the idea, but she wasn't sure if things were bad enough to justify this just yet. She wanted to go to Ba Sing Se herself, but with Iroh and Zuko fighting along with most of her allies, she didn't have anyone to run the country.

There was only one person she could ask at this point.

Mai and Aang were going through correspondence from their friends.

"Azula sent word today. Sokka and Chief Arnook are meeting here to try and get Kuei to stop this mayhem."

Aang was glad they were coming, but was unsure of what they could say that hasn't already been said.

"Arnook said he may deploy troops if it is needed to keep the peace."

"What else did she say?"

"She said Chief Hakoda can't make it or spare any men because they don't have enough whales to survive the winter yet."

Aang may need to go there next and see if he can help.

Zuko was trying to get food to the lower ring. Kuei's men had blockaded it to try and get them to surrender, but it didn't work. Iroh had closed his shop until further notice and they were taking the food they did have to the poor, or they were trying too.

"No one is allowed to bring food into the lower ring."

Zuko and Iroh started to argue with the men. Denying people food was clearly a violation of their human rights; even prisoners get food.

While they bickered, Toph smuggled the food underground to the people. She heard mothers holding crying children, their hunger ringing in her ears.

"When will the chaos end?"

Other than kicking Kuei out and finding a sensible king, Toph wasn't sure what to do.

Ty Lee and Suki were spying on the Earth Kingdom troops, trying to figure out what their next move was going to be.

One of the men dropped a scroll as he left. Ty Lee stole it and Suki read it. "Bumi's troops are on the way. They'll be here in five days."

"This is going to be a full blown war."

The two brought the scroll back to Mai and Aang.

Mai wrote back to Azula. She couldn't believe this, but they may need their favorite conqueror to take over Ba Sing Se again.

Before that letter reached the Fire Lord, Sokka arrived in Ba Sing Se. He had trouble getting into the city but the military let him in once he said he was an ally of Kuei and represented the Southern Water Tribe, not entirely untrue.

He first went to the Jasmine Dragon just to see that it was closed.

He was about to leave when he heard, "Snoozles!" Toph let him in and then she punched his arm. "About time you showed up."

"We were trying to use diplomatic channels first. We still are. Chief Arnook is on his way."

"Good luck with that. He's trying to starve out the lower ring and is calling in troops from the other cities."

"What?" Sokka's voice cracked.

"Yeah. We have an underground tunnel system to deliver food, but it's only a matter of time before the military finds them and starts to collapse them."

Aang and Zuko were out delivering food. The avatar was surprised by how many restaurants just gave them their leftovers.

The warriors were trying to deal with the looting problem. So many people were thieves of opportunity.

Mai and Ty Lee had been disabling the enemy's long-range weapons.

"Is this really appropriate for a Secretary of State?" Mai questioned as she jammed her stiletto into their catapult.

"I'm sure it's fine." Ty Lee heard someone coming. She was about to chi block him when she saw a familiar face. "Sokka?"

"No one knows how to ruin weapons like me."

The three got to work.

Chief Arnook arrived the following day and he met Sokka at the Palace.

"I'm surprised Azula sent you," the chief said. He hadn't been involved in the reparation agreement at all.

"I'm here on my own initiative, but she said she'd support me as needed." Sokka stayed out of the reparation agreement out of fairness. It would be hard for him to help Azula when his own tribe had been so heavily affected. This dispute, however, didn't involve his tribe at all, so he didn't feel like he had to pick sides. "We're here to see King Kuei," Sokka said to the guard. Hopefully, this will work out for them better than it had Mai and Ty Lee.

The guard escorted the men to a room where Kuei had been waiting for them. "Chief Arnook, Sokka, come in."

Sokka explained why they were there. "We're concerned about the stability of the nation. If Ba Sing Se falls again, the whole country will be in disarray."

Kuei frowned. "Did Azula send you?"

"No."

His frowned lessened a bit. "I have it under control."

"No disrespect Kuei," Arnook added, "but when we see your military on one side and the avatar at the other, that is the opposite of under control."

"Aang joined the rebels?"

"Have you been getting reports back?" Sokka questioned.

"The military told me they had it covered."

"You didn't check?"

"I'm not going to go out there myself!"

"Why not?" Sokka got mad. "A king is traditionally the best fighter. He leads the men into battle, not sitting inside while he's being lied to, again!"

Kuei threw them out.

"I guess I could have handled that better."

Arnook sighed. "Maybe, but we would have been thrown out eventually. He has no idea what's going on out there." Arnook had a tough decision to make. He wanted to help the people, but he didn't want to lose men fighting a war he wasn't sure he could win. "What are the odds that Azula's troops would fight alongside mine?"


	21. Chapter 21

AN: In my story, I assumed that Omashu had been reincorporated after the war ended. My interpretation of the show wasn't that Omashu had been declared independent; rather it hadn't fallen to the Fire Nation for most of the war unlike much of the country. Given that and Kuei's ignorance of the war and life outside of Ba Sing Se, Bumi ran it independently but was technically subordinate to Kuei.

* * *

Bumi and his men made it to the capital city. The King went to meet with his "boss" and at first the guards asked him for an appointment.

"If you don't let me in, I'll just earthbend my way inside you twits. Kuei ordered me out here, and I want to know why."

"Of course."

He was "escorted" to the throne room where Kuei was fussing with his advisors.

"What is the meaning of all of this?"

"King Bumi, please tell me you brought your troops."

"Well duh. I mean what is going on? Why did you want them in the first place."

Kuei's advisor told him, "The lower ring has revolted. We need reinforcements."

"Where is the Avatar?"

"He joined the rebels," Kuei blurted out before the advisor could shush him.

"What?" He must have had good reason. "Did he tell you why?"

"It doesn't matter why. What matters is that you are a king of the Earth kingdom and you are bound to help get it in order."

"Like hell it doesn't matter. He's been my friend for over 100 years. I'm not going to war with him without hearing his side."

The advisors threatened to jail him for insubordination.

Kuei found himself taking a back seat to the conflict.

Bumi's troops however, were waiting for orders from somebody. They had no idea what the plan was. Their king hadn't told them.

"I assume he went to Kuei to find out," one of the men said.

"I could really use a hot bath," another said.

"Yeah, you reek."

As the men ribbed on each other, another set of troops got ready for battle.

* * *

Azula had visited her father in Boiling Rock. She knew Sokka wouldn't approve, but he wasn't here and she needed to talk her ideas out with someone.

He was surprised to see her. "Fire Lord Azula, you came to visit this poor little convict."

He looked different in his prison garb, and he looked like he had lost muscle mass. His eyes, however, had the same terrifying gleam to them. "Father, I don't know why I am coming to you, but I could use an ear."

"You could use an ear. I could use my throne back and my bending and the daughter who was loyal to me."

"You walked all over me. I couldn't do it anymore. The costs were too high."

"What was it? What was so good that you stabbed me in the back?"

"I fell in love," she told him quietly.

"YOU FELL IN LOVE. WITH WHOM?" He hadn't heard yet.

"His name is Sokka. You might have seen him crashing all your sky ships during Sozin's Comet."

"A water tribe peasant."

"Yes."

"How did you even meet such a creature?"

"I first encountered him in Omashu when it was New Ozai."

"Didn't you realize the heat of battle is just an expression?"

Azula smirked. "I guess it is also a truism."

Ozai shook his head. "I thought I raised to be above such nonsense."

"I guess you didn't."

"So what now? He's going to be your Fire Lady."

"I think he prefers the term Fire Man, but yes."

"And your stupid brother?"

"Last I heard, he was out fighting crime as the Blue Spirit."

"He became a masked avenger? My children are such a disappointment."

"Maybe you'll like your grandchildren better."

"YOU'RE PREGNANT!"

"No."

"So why did you come here other than to traumatize me?"

"Kuei has lost control of Ba Sing Se."

"That stupid king, why do you care?"

"He started using the military against his own people."

"And?"

"And I want to stop him."

"So invade his ass and kick him out. You did it once before."

"I'm not the same girl who just shoots people with lightening when they stand in her way anymore."

"You want to stop a military, then you need an army even if it is your ragtag group of peasant friends."

Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best ones.

Azula wasn't going to deploy them right away. She instructed them to take their orders from Mai. They would engage only if she deemed it appropriate. She wrote out the order so they could take it to the resistance by hand.

"I assume they will be meeting in my uncle's teashop, the Jasmine Dragon. It's in the Upper Ring."

She hoped this panned out okay. Ozai told me to do it would hardly be an excuse if it didn't.

The soldiers made their way to Ba Sing Se, waiting outside of the city as they sent in one soldier disguised as a merchant.

He made his way to the Jasmine Dragon only to find it close. He started to bang on the door. "Yo anyone in here!"

"Can't you see we're closed," Sokka snapped.

"Aren't you the Fire Lord's boy toy?"

What? "No, you must have me mistaken with someone else."

"No, it's you alright. Soccer."

"Sokka!" Damn it!

"Can you give this to Lady Mai?" He handed him a scroll.

The warrior delivered it to the diplomat who opened it up. "Well that was fast." Azula had delivered her some troops and left Mai to be in charge of them. "Well, we have an army."

"What?"

* * *

Bumi found himself in jail for refusing to obey the King's orders. He made a real mess before they took him down, the throne room in shambles.

"At least I'm not in a coffin," he said to himself as he bided his time. Once the drugs wore off, he would escape and get his men.

Kuei wasted no time finding Bumi's troops, well the men he sent to find them wasted no time.

"You have been ordered to support King Kuei."

"Where's King Bumi?" one soldier asked

"Kuei runs the kingdom. You answer to him!"

"I answer to Bumi, now tell me before I put my boot up your ass."

The men started clamoring. Finally, one of the messengers said, "he's in the palace with King Kuei. They are discussing strategies, now come on."

The men reluctantly followed and then they got their assignments.

Arnook, Mai and Sokka met while the others were out fighting.

The Chief was hesitant to join Azula's troops but he was also hesitant to invade alone. It was weird. Working with the Fire Nation sounded disastrous. The two nations had warred for 100 years. Surely their men hated each other, but invading alone sounded suicidal.

"I don't know what to do now," he admitted.

Mai said, "I think we should wait and see what Bumi does. If his men appear, then we have to fight back. We won't have a choice."

Sokka agreed. "We have to stop this before the entire kingdom collapses."

The next day, Bumi's men appeared alongside Kuei's and the resistance was losing ground quickly. Toph was whisking people away with her earthbending, so they didn't get captured.

"A little help guys!"

"We're doing the best we can!" Aang was using all of his elements trying to keep the troops back. He was reluctant to go into the avatar state, less he get a repeat of the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe. He couldn't see that many men die again.

Zuko and Iroh were trying to come up with a way to get some kind of advantage. Iroh had it.

"Go with Ty Lee and see if you can capture one of their men."

While Zuko assailed with Fire, Ty Lee weaved through the battle lines and chi blocked a man. When he fell, she and Zuko dragged him away.

The man came too in the Jasmine Dragon. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We're not going to hurt you," TY Lee promised.

"I can't feel my body."

"Oh that will wear off in like 10 minutes."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"We're hoping you would help us."

"Why would I help you when the King ordered me to fight you?"

"What do Kings do?" Zuko asked him.

"They bark orders and like in splendor."

"They're supposed to protect the people. How can you work for a King who's attacking his own citizens?"

"I don't know. Bumi took us here and then he disappeared and Kuei ordered us into battle."

"Bumi was here?" Mai questioned. "When?"

"We got here two days ago. He went to talk to Kuei, but he never came back."

"What if refused to fight?" Ty Lee posited. "He might be in jail."

"Jail?" the soldier repeated. "They told us he was strategizing."

"There's one way to find out," Ty Lee suggested.

That night, Toph and Mai snuck the rest of the Fire Nation soldiers into the capital city while Ty Lee and Aang snuck into the palace.

Toph laughed at the irony. "I can't believe I'm helping you conquer Ba Sing Se again."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Well, I promise we won't shoot Aang this time."

"You better not!"

Aang and Ty Lee made it through the palace and Ty Lee couldn't help but reminisce about the last time she had been here. "Is it weird for you being back here, because Azula shot you and all."

Aang gulped. "Well, she won't do it again."

"I guess that was awkward of me to say."

"Just a little bit."

They found Bumi who had been drugged again in his sleep, hampering his attempt to escape.

"Aang?"

"And Ty Lee."

"We came to get you out of here."

"I'm going to kill Kuei."

They were half way out of the palace, when a guard spotted them. Ty Lee chi blocked him and stole his uniform.

"What are you going to do with that?" Aang questioned.

"It might come in handy later."

When they got back to the Jasmine Dragon, the King was surprised to see a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers in the place. It was a full house. Most of the troops were hidden in various homes of their allies, but they didn't have space for them all, so the rest crammed into the Jasmine Dragon.

"What the fuck is going on?" Bumi stammered.

Iroh fixed him some tea as Mai explained that Azula sent the troops to support the resistance and they were under her control.

"So where is the Fire Lord?"

"At home."

"I should have stayed home," he retorted, with my troops.

* * *

If the Fire Nation soldiers knew anything, it was how to get control of a city. Now that they had a sample uniform, it was easy to make replicas so that they could send a group to masquerade as the King's guards. Once they had them ready, they started issuing orders to the soldiers, temporarily convincing them to hold their fire.

Once the ruse was up, the rest of the Fire Nation troops descended, so fast that Kuei's men didn't see it coming. They took control of the gates and of the roads, regulating traffic and halting the looters.

Both armies from the Earth Kingdom were ready to attack before Bumi called his men back.

"But the Fire Nation is here."

"They're just trying to stop Kuei from killing everyone."

The men were skeptical but some of them followed their king.

"I am the last person who wants to watch the Fire Nation invade again but look around. The stores are all closed. The food supplies are dwindling. We can't go on like this. The people will starve.

While the Fire Nation got control of the city, Arnook's men along with the resistance stormed the palace, taking out the guards and putting Kuei under house arrest.

They voted to put Bumi in charge until they decided what to do with the throne. He was not pleased, but when he heard that their other plan was to ask Azula to do it, he agreed.

"Were you really going to give Azula control of Ba Sing Se again?" Toph asked Aang.

"No, but Sokka suggested if we told Bumi that, he would take the throne instead."

"He is learning from her, isn't he?"

"I guess so."

The Fire Nation troops worked alongside the Earth Kingdom soldiers and the citizens to rebuild the stores and roads. The other cities and the Fire Nation send food to the capital city to help get everyone fed and in the weeks that followed, Ba Sing Se was starting to look normal again, well a new normal.

Bumi had ended the segregation of the rings. Few objected at this point, having seen what the dispute had cost them. The ones who did threatened to pull their political support for the crown, and Bumi responded that he had enough friends and he was just too old to care.

They had a World Leaders' meeting to decide what to do with the throne of the Earth Kingdom.

No one thought Kuei was fit to rule at this point. "All he does is take the words of his advisors as gospel even when it causes civil war."

Aang suggested leaving Bumi was the king as he was the most experienced and was pretty popular.

Bumi objected. "Look, I'm really old and I hadn't even found an heir to take over Omashu. When I die, there will be an empty throne and this debate will start all over again."

He had his own suggestion for who should take over the crown.

"No way," Toph retorted. "I am not going to do it." She was the only noble, who actually stood up for the people when they were in trouble. Kings were traditionally the best fighters and who in the kingdom could match her? Her family had the necessary political contacts, and she was already well acquanted with the rest of the world leaders.

"But you're the best choice," Bumi said.

"I'm not even 13 yet!"

"Why don't you name Toph your heir and run the throne temporarily?" Sokka suggested. "It would give her a chance to prepare for the throne."

"Snoozles! What's wrong with you?"

The more she insisted that she was a terrible choice, the more popular the idea became. Azula offered to send Lo and Li to help her get ready to rule

"I'm not going to get out of this am I?"

"No."

Toph was not amused, but when Azula suggested Toph's father take the throne, she reluctantly agreed to do it. Later she said, "I got had didn't I?"

"Yeah you did," Aang said with a giggle.

Bumi took control of Ba Sing Se, ruling Omashu along with it until he could find a King for that throne.

Toph, on the other hand, quit her job training the police so she could focus on learning how to be a sovereign.

Her father was elated that his daughter would be queen and had all kinds of ideas for her reign, mainly ideas to make him money. Toph made a note not to listen to anything her father said.

* * *

Shameless plug: I have a new story The Crown. It's Harula (is that the right ship name?) and eventual Ty Lokka (Ty Lee + Sokka)


	22. Chapter 22

Kuei was furious when he learned he had been deposed as king and demoted to being a mere noble. In addition all of his advisors were fired shut out of Earth Kingdom politics.

His complaints however fell on deaf ears. The people were happy to have a thriving capital city again, and no one really missed him.

Bosco was confused when he was moved out of the palace, but he adjusted to his new home just fine. He had a huge backyard and could roam for kms on end.

Ba Sing Se started to develop a new cultural identity. More rustic restaurants started to appear in the Upper Ring and restaurateurs experimented with putting fine dining in the middle ring.

As people from the lower sectors were able to find employment in the upper ring, money started to trickle down and there was a new sense of hope for the capital city's poorer residents.

Aang liked the new atmosphere in the city. He thought it was more fun this way.

Toph however, did not want to hear anything about Ba Sing Se in her free time. "It's bad enough Lo and Li have been making me learn these traditional dances, how to eat with the right fork and spoon, how I have to dress for various occasions. They even taught me the polite way to slap a rude man. How did Azula survive this?"

"She said they were the best."

"Ugh!"

It was exciting for the old women to have a new charge to train. She was quite similar yet very different from Azula. She had the same defiant attitude and love of fighting, but Azula was more concerned with her femininity and her aesthetics.

Lo and Li took her shopping for some more appropriate clothing and she didn't even want to try on the shoes, much less wear them.

Li had handed her these heels and said, "These will help you appear taller." Toph might be the smallest Earth Queen in history. Toph made it about 5 cm before she fell over.

"We're going to have to teach her how to walk in these," Li stated.

Toph groaned. She was a tomboy through and through, but she would have to learn how to dress like a lady for when she was a queen. She wondered why she couldn't just be a king, but Lo just pointed out that a kng her size would have to wear elevated shoes as well.

Bumi hired Zuko as a community advocate. It was his job to keep up with the lower sectors and come up with ways to help them advance in society, such as job fairs and increased public education.

He would help all of the Earth Kingdom, not just Ba Sing Se, giving him chance to travel the country and to make periodic visits to Kyoshi Island.

Iroh had been offered a job as well, but he decided to stay with his teashop.

* * *

Sokka had his own ideas to improve the Fire Nation. He thought the world could benefit from a cultural exchange, having seen first hand the problems with having militaries from multiple countries trying to work alongside each other after 100 years of war.

The pilot program would involve an exchange between Fire Nation students and students from the Air Nation. It was going to start in the fall and if it was successful, he wanted to expand it to the tribes and the Earth Kingdom.

Azula was skeptical. "I don't know how many Fire Nation parents who can afford to send their children would? The nobility is really racist."

Sokka was really excited about it, so Azula told him to go for it and see what happened.

That being said, how many students actually signed up for the exchange surprised her. Many of them were from Ember Island and hadn't thought about the war very much when it was going on. Their parents were more laid back and also wanted to get their kids out of their hair.

Teo had been able to gather a group of students from the Northern Air Temple and he and Sokka were working on a curriculum for the students to learn about the other's culture.

Mai was in charge of diplomatic relations, making sure the kids were safe and figuring out what to do if they got themselves into trouble. Ty Lee was there to help her. The two had settled into some form of a relationship, even though Mai wasn't big on labeling it at that point.

"Ty Lee has you whipped," Azula told her.

"Like Sokka doesn't have you whipped?"

"Peh!"

"Miss. Cultural Exchange."

"Shut up!"

Katara had heard of all of the news via letters. She of course went ballistic when she read the Fire Nation had invaded Ba Sing Se again, and was surprised to learn that they helped put Bumi on the throne and then left.

She wondered when she would see her brother next. The tribe was different without him to bicker with her.

It was the spring before Sokka returned to the tribe. He finally introduced his Gran Gran to Azula. The elder had heard plenty of stories about her, from the lovely anecdotes in Sokka's letters to the horror stories that came out of Katara's mouth. She wondered which one was true.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kanna."

"Oh you can call me Gran Gran. So she's the reason I haven't seen you in over a year. She's quite pretty."

Azula found herself in a winter wonderland. "It just goes on and on."

Sokka took her on a tour. "This is where we found Aang frozen in a block of ice."

"How did you see him if he was in an iceberg?"

"Well, Katara was yelling at me over something, and she got so mad, her chi must have broken him out the iceberg. He kind of just floated up here."

"Interesting."

They continued. "This is the boat where Aang tripped an alarm, alerting your brother that he was here."

She was surprise the ruined ship still had all of its pieces. "Why didn't you just take it apart and see what useful stuff was in it?"

Sokka shrugged. They just left it there.

"What did you do?"

"I banished Aang from the Tribe, so the Fire Nation wouldn't attack us."

"Did you banish yourself along with him?"

He chuckled. "Katara and I decided to join him and the saga began. Let's go sledding!"

Azula assumed he had a sled. She, however, saw some otter penguins.

"Just grab one!" He took a penguin and got on it, sledding down the hill.

Azula was mystified. She tried it. "Good little penguin," and slid on his back. She let out a shrill as she went down the hill. Conquering Ba Sing Se was easy, but somehow, she was scared to be going so fast in an out of control fashion. She reached the bottom, mouth agape, and face all rosy.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked with a laugh.

"That was awesome!" They went a few more times before they decided to head back to the tribe.

Katara was back from her waterbending class. She was teaching some of the benders who had been jailed during the war.

She went over to help her Gran Gran with dinner, just to see Azula helping her instead.

"How fast do I stir it?" she asked of the stew.

"Um, normal speed." The elder wasn't used to giving such precise directions. "I take it you don't normally cook at home."

"No." She tried it during the war, but quickly got Ty Lee to take over. Apparently, she learned to cook in the circus.

"This must be quite an adjustment from the palace."

"It's quaint." Azula commented as she wondered, "what is this?"

"Sea Prune stew," Kanna told her.

"What's a sea prune?"

She can conquer a city, but she can't stir a pot of soup? "I'm home from work," Katara told her grandmother.

"Hi Katara. Azula and your brother are here for a visit."

Katara frowned. Of course he brought her. "I see. Where is he?"

"He wanted to talk to your father about repurposing that shipwreck where Zuko found you back in the day."

"Oh." I guess the metal would be useful.

When the men were back for dinner, Hakoda greeted Azula warmly. He was pleasantly surprised that Azula came to stay in the tribe, not on a fancy boat or something.

Sokka started to tell his father about the student exchange they were setting up. Hakoda did not have a lot of students to send away, but he offered to host children if they ever wanted to come to the tribe.

Sokka thought next summer might work. The weather would be the best for hosting people and that was when most of the action is in the tribe.

"So you're sending Fire Nation children to the Air Nation?" Pakku asked, not sure of how this exchange was going to work.

"Yes, and the children in the Northern Air Temple are coming to the stay at Ember Island."

"I'm sure that will be quite an experience."

"I hope it's a positive one," Azula said.

"Of course it will be. There's barbeque and the beach. What kid isn't happy with that?"

"I think she meant the locals," Pakku suggested.

"Oh that. Eh, they were alright when I was there, not that they knew who I was."

"I don't know the common folk too well," Azula admitted. "I was raised to rule them not talk to them."

Katara wasn't surprised. No one at the table was really

"We should change that?"

"What?"

"Have some kind of public event like a giant tea party or I got it, a meet and greet at a beachside barbeque this summer. I could drum up excitement about the exchange program and hungry people will eat, a job well done."

"You just want some ribs," Azula retorted.

"Well, I won't object to ribs, but I think this could be really fun."

"Well Ty Lee is in charge of community relations. I'll bring it up with her."

"I could do it," Sokka offered.

"I know you could, but it's about time she did something, other than Mai."

Katara's mouth dropped.

Gran Gran started to laugh.

When Katara came too, she chastised Azula about her behavior. "This isn't a slumber party!"

"Oh I may be old but it's not like I've never been around the iceberg."

Hakoda's jaw dropped. Pakku starting laughing.

The grandmother could see that Azula had an angelic and a devilish side to her nature. Apparently, both of her grandchildren were right about her.

"Maybe you should go to the beach party," Gran Gran said to Katara. "You could visit your boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Hakoda questioned. "Who?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Katara insisted.

"Then why do you get all excited every time he writes to you."

"Is it that boy from the party?" Azula questioned.

"None of your business," Katara snapped.

"Now don't be rude," Gran Gran chided.

"It is. I know how he is."

"Who is he?" Hakoda questioned.

"No one," Katara insisted.

"He's nice," Azula said, "even if he does flip his hair."

"EW!" Sokka groaned.

"Shut up!" Katara told him.

Azula and Sokka stayed for two weeks, and Sokka stayed for two more while she had to return to the throne.

Sokka hoped that when they had kids, he would be able to spend at least a month in the tribe with them every year. He wanted to stay connected to his roots.


	23. Chapter 23

Toph was exhausted, not physically so much as mentally. This seemed so contrary to everything she ever wanted to be.

"I just don't get it. I'm preparing to be the leader of the Earth Kingdom, but all I have to do is learn stupid rules. Why can't I just change them when I become Queen?"

"Azula used to ask us the same thing," Li told her.

"We started training her at 12, just like you."

"But even as Queen, you will be entering a 'boys' club.' You have to learn to present yourself a certain way."

"But my ideas will be the same no matter how I look or walk."

"Yes, but if you failed to get your ideas across because you didn't learn the walk, then all of your hard work is for not."

Toph grumbled. They were right, even if she hated to admit it.

Aang, of course, didn't really get the problem. "I like your new clothes. They're pretty."

"But they itch and these heels suck."

Aang shrugged. "I've never had to walk in them."

"And that's the problem. Men expect us to get all dolled up and they have no idea what that means. That's it, if I have to learn to walk in heels, then so do you."

"What?"

"Oh this is going to be awesome."

Toph took Aang's hand, dragging him to her closet. "Let's see if we can find a pair in your size."

Aang wished he had gone swimming instead of coming over.

* * *

Ty Lee was excited to plan the party. "This is going to be so much fun. We'll have music and games and food and maybe we could get the circus to come."

Azula groaned. "Whatever. Just make it happen." Agni those circus animals smell bad.

Sokka was excited to help with the food selection. "Will they provide us free samples?"

"Yes." Has he never catered a party before?

"I'm on it!"

Of course hasn't. Azula shook her head. How did she fall in love with such a fool?

* * *

Zuko was enjoying his time on Kyoshi Island. He had just visited Gaoling and would be on his way to Omashu before going across the Northern part of the country, hiking through the small towns and finding out what they needed from their King.

For now, however, he was just lying on the beach. He used to hate feeling like he was doing nothing, but now that he was no longer obsessed with proving himself to his father, or anyone else, he was able to finally calm down.

A kid covered him in sand when he kicked over a sandcastle.

"Watch it you little BRAT!"

Well, Zuko calmed down a little bit.

Suki led him away. "You are so high strung."

"I'm better than I used to be."

"Unfortunately, I believe you." She kissed his nose. "How about we have some indoor fun?"

Zuko scooped her up and started running.

"I live the other way."

He turned right around.

* * *

Katara was holding a letter from Ruon Jian. It seemed silly. She only knew him for a few days, but somehow, he stayed in her mind. Apparently, he signed up for the Peace Corps after the war. He was sailing around cleaning up polluted rivers and helping farmers get their crops growing again.

"I never really thought about the war while it was happening. It was easy enough to party with my friends and leave the war talk to the soldiers, but just seeing the aftermath is devastating. I can't believe I didn't open my eyes earlier."

Most of his friends kept partying. He hadn't heard from them in months, but he was okay with that. He needed more out of life, and he wasn't going to get it at Chan's beach house.

After another long day of work, Ruon Jian slipped into his tub. He still couldn't believe that those people didn't have clean water for so long. Did the Fire Lord not know or just not give a damn? He closed his eyes. One day, the country will be as it should have been all along, but for now, it was time for dinner and then sleep.

* * *

Iroh was quite amused to see Aang running into his teashop demanding cover while Toph chased him with tweezers.

"What are you doing?"

"She's trying to maim me."

"I was just plucking his eyebrows."

"Bloody murder!"

"Are they too bushy for you?"

"I just thought he should get a taste of all of the crud that us women go through for men!"

"I just said I liked her dress!"

Iroh laughed. "I think Aang has learned his lesson. Now how about some tea."

* * *

Azula sat on her pavilion. She saw it every day, but seldom had time to just sit here and do nothing. As a child, she would sit on her pavilion and daydream about being Fire Lord. She didn't realize her family wouldn't be here to share the moment.

Her mother was gone. Azulon and Lu Ten were dead. Ozai was in prison. Zuko was pursuing his own dreams and Iroh had retired in the Earth Kingdom. She didn't expect all of them to be here, but she thought somebody would be, even if she hadn't gotten along with most of them.

She wondered if her mother was still alive. "If she is and she's uninjured, she must not care. She never came back." She must know that Ozai is in jail, but she didn't come back, not even for Zuko.

* * *

Ty Lee and Sokka were going on about the party.

Mai asked, "where is Azula?"

"Meeting?" Ty Lee suggested.

"No. I would know if she had one."

"Nap?" Sokka tried.

"She's not you. She doesn't nap."

They both shrugged.

Mai knocked on Azula's door. She entered when she heard no answer. Her friend was sitting outside her window.

"What's going on with you?"

"Do you think my mother's dead?"

Mai thought for a moment. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think she would have come back if she weren't or at least written somebody, but I'm afraid to ask Ozai. It will be all too real if she is gone."

Mai never knew why Ursa left, but something bad happened. It was the night Azulon died, and she disappeared. They had to be connected. "I don't know where she is, and I know you two had your struggles, but I do know she would be very proud of you right now, and not because you're wearing a Crown."

Azula buried her head in her friend's shoulder.

Azula rarely showed her weaknesses to anyone. Even Sokka didn't know them all, but Mai was very observant; like a fly on the wall, she saw everything and over the years, she had seen the different shades of Azula, from the six year old who was determined to be the world's best firebender to the nine year old who grew colder when her mother vanished to the twelve year old who mastered lightening to the fifteen year old who took the Crown. Those may be the big events, but it's the moments in between that made Azula who she is and are the reasons that Mai is her friend.

Eventually, they joined the others. Sokka was already contemplating the balance between deliciousness of different cuts of meat and how easy they would be to eat.

"Ribs are so delicious, but they are a two hand food. Meat kabobs are a one hand food, but they aren't as tender."

"Maybe we should have both for those who are sitting down and those who are going to eat and walk," Ty Lee offered.

"YES!"

"Someting tells me, I'm going to be your third hand while you eat everything," Azula teased.

"Now that's the spirit."

* * *

Zuko woke up with Suki draped on his chest. It was a bittersweet feeling. He was having a great time, but he knew it would be over soon.

She looked like an angel when she slept. She also looked like one when she woke up.

Zuko kissed her forehead and closed his eyes again. If he stayed in bed, maybe he didn't have to leave.


	24. Chapter 24

AN: My computer froze and ate this chapter, so I had to rewrite it. Hopefully it worked out.

* * *

Eventually, Sokka noticed there was something off with Azula. She seemed to react slower, like her mind was somewhere else.

"Is there something on your mind?"

"What?"

"You've been out of it for a while now."

"I'm just tired."

"But you're always tired," Sokka slipped his arms around her. "This is something else."

Azula leaned against his chest. "I don't know what happened to my mother." Is she dead? Did she just not want to come back?

"Have you asked Ozai?"

"No. I know Zuko confronted him and got nowhere."

"Maybe Jun could find her."

"I doubt we have anything with her scent after all this time."

Sokka frowned. She had a point. "Maybe we should start with your family tree. She might have found some of her relatives to stay with."

The next day, they went into the library to look up Ursa's family tree. Her parents were dead. They had died before Ursa was banished.

"She was born in Hira'a," Sokka read. "What's in Hira'a?"

"Nothing?" Azula had no idea.

Sokka suggested they go, but Azula was pressed for time. "The council goes on vacation during the summer. Every bill I want to have passed I have to push now or I have to wait until the fall."

Sokka had another idea to try and get information on Ursa.

* * *

When Lao and Poppy heard that Toph had mentors, they invited them to dinner. Toph brought Aang, making it six at the table.

"So what is your experience?" Lao asked the twins.

"We mentored Azula before she became Fire Lord."

"She had outpaced her other mentors, so we were the only options left."

"What did you do before that?" Poppy asked them.

"We did all kinds of things, worked in bars, travelled, we were moon peach traps for a little while."

"What?" Lao sounded appalled.

"Well someone has to get he Fire Nation intelligence."

"We worked for Azulon at the time."

"We also took care of his more personal needs."

"You mean you were his concubines?" Poppy questioned.

"Oh that term is so dated. We prefer temporary companion."

Toph's parents were mortified. The young Bei Fong, however, was loving it. "So what was his favorite position?"

"TOPH!" her parents yelled at her.

After the dinner, they insisted she get new mentors, but she said, "they're the best."

"They are two old whores."

"Who would know politics better than the Fire Nation's whores?"

Aang stayed out of it.

* * *

Zuko made his way from Kyoshi Island to Omashu. One of the first things he did was find Song's family and buy them a new ostrich horse.

"I was desperate, but that gave me no right to take it."

Song was happy to see him again, even if it was only for a few minutes.

The Prince took his time getting to explore the city. He saw the mail carts that Aang liked to ride in, but Zuko had no interest in making a fool of himself. Something about Omashu made it appealing, but Zuko couldn't name it.

After a couple of days, he realized that the city had a much better layout than most of the Earth Kingdom. The rowdy bars were all in one area and the fancy restaurants in another. The schoolhouses were close to the residential part of town. It all came together nicely.

He asked passersby how they liked Omashu and if they had been anywhere else in the Earth Kingdom.

One said, "well Omashu is expensive, but it's nice. Gaoling is cheap and grungy and Ba Sing Se is just freaking weird."

The biggest complaints about Omashu were getting to and leaving the city since it was landlocked. It made goods more expensive and people became reluctant to leave once they got here, even for vacations.

Zuko took notes on the positives and the negatives and then headed westward towards Ba Sing Se. His own struggles leaving the city were evident. His ostrich horse would get tired from the elevation. It was easy to get lost.

This was going to be a long miserable trip he grumbled.

* * *

Bumi was tired. As it turns out, Long Feng was skimming off of Ba Sing Se's coffers for years to pay for his brainwashing program and various other misdeeds. Bumi had just figured out how much money was missing, and it easily explained why Kuei could never afford to do anything in the city, despite the high taxes.

The people were sick of paying for nothing and they made their voices loud and clear. Bumi needed to find a way to do more with less and it was not going to be a fun road.

"You would think I have done enough in my life, but no, at 109 freaking years old I'm the Earth King."

He needed a break and decided he would challenge Aang and Toph to an Earthbender's game.

Aang received his friend's letter. "Toph, do you want to play an earthbender game with ..."

"YES!" Toph yelled, ready to escape Lo and Li for the day. She dragged Aang out the door.

"Wrong way," he told her.

She abruptly turned around, almost making Aang fall down. He wondered if he'd survive the trip to the palace.

* * *

Sokka went to Boiling Rock. Ozai was surprised to see him. "You must be that peasant boy that seduced my daughter."

"What?" Sokka looked at him quizzically. "Actually, she came onto me."

Ozai made a gaggign sound. "Don't care. What do you want?"

"I want you to tell me what happened to your wife."

"She's dead," he said hurriedly.

"You're lying."

"So what if I am?"

"Azula wants to find her."

"Why isn't she here?"

"She's afraid you'll just tell her she's dead."

"Fine, she's dead. Happy?"

"No. Why won't you say where she is?"

"Why would I want her back at the palace? She's expended her usefulness to me."

Ozai thought this conversation was over, but he didn't realize Sokka was going to come every day until he got answers. The next day he brought a harmonica. The day after that he brought some chimes. He was going to annoy Ozai into telling the truth.

**Two weeks later**

Mai received Azula's foreign correspondence and read it for her. "You have a letter from the Earth King."

"What does it say?"

"It says he wants to make a joint tariff reduction agreement."

"Did he say why?"

"To boost the foreign economy. Ba Sing Se's probably broke after the riots."

This would benefit the Fire Nation anyway. "See if he can meet in three weeks time."

Mai excused herself.

Ty Lee just waltzed in. "Oh I just had a meeting with the sages."

"You have meetings?" Azula questioned.

"Haha, anyway they suggested you make Sokka your royal consort and then have a celebratory party."

"Now?" She's already doing this summer festival stuff.

"No in the fall."

"Is this their way of pushing an engagement on me?"

"Probably, but it will be fun, and don't you want to finally have your Prince Charming?"

"Don't tell Sokka he's charming, his ego is big enough."

"You think I'm charming," he said teasingly as he kissed her forehead.

"Not anymore."

"Ouch, and I had a present for you."

"Present."

Azula turned, and Sokka held it over her head.

She made a flame and he dropped it."EEP!"

"Haha!"

"Now that's love," Ty Lee said mockingly.

"What do you know?"

Ty Lee took her exit. She knew when the lovebirds needed to be alone.

Azula saw that they were letters her mother had written to some Ikem guy. "What are these?"

"The clues we need to find your mother."


	25. Chapter 25

Zuko pitched a tent to sleep for the night. He was one day away from Ba Sing Se. He needed to negotiate for a sky ship for this trip the next time he did it. He had run out of food and had to scavenge until he could find a town. Thieves had tried to take his ostrich horse, twice.

He woke up when the birds started squawking. Time to get to Ba Sing Se. He got on his ostrich horse and rode for hours until he reached the city walls. He produced a residence permit issued by King Bumi.

"Welcome back Prince Zuko."

The worn down prince needed to get to his accommodation and a bath before he met with the King. He was on his way there when he heard a familiar voice.

"You look like hell Sparky!"

"Toph?"

"In the flesh."

Lo and Li approached. "Queens do not call Princes Sparky," Li chided.

"This one does."

Zuko chuckled. They must be driving her crazy. "Lo, Li, good to see you."

"Prince Zuko, I hope all is well with you."

"It will be, once I get a bath."

"We won't keep you."

"But I want to bother him," Toph complained.

"How about we invite him for dinner?"

"We can teach you how to roast a chicken."

"Work!"

Zuko laughed. "I would love to have dinner with the future Earth Queen."

"I might bury you in the ground."

"We'll see you at 7:30, Prince."

Zuko made it to his apartment and got in the tub. "I feel so gross!"

Eventually, he had to get dressed and start preparing his report for the Earth King.

* * *

Aang had been dealing with looters all day. They were targeting merchants trying to bring their goods into the city. With Toph off the police force, the city's officers had grown lazy, giving Aang the job of cleaning up the place. He caught two rival groups of thieves today, just to wonder if he should have let them take each other out.

They cursed and yelled threats the whole way back to jail, but Aang paid them no mind. "I've been threatened by scarier people than you."

After delivering them to jail and turning in his incident report, he was ready to take a hot bath and maybe get some takeout. He was surprised when he got home and saw Toph cooking.

"What are you doing?"

"Trussing a chicken."

"Why?"

"So it cooks more evenly and the juicy parts don't dry out."

"Um cool?"

"Sparky's coming for dinner."

"He finally made it back."

"Yeah and in one piece."

"That's good."

Lo and Li started telling Toph what to do for the side dishes.

"I have to make sides!"

Aang decided to sneak out of there before ...

"Not so fast. You get to help me."

Aw! "What do you need me to do?"

"Peel those vegetables."

Aang grabbed a paring knife. He needed to start airbending straight to his room when he got home from work.

Sparky arrived a few minutes before 7:30. He had an interesting afternoon at the palace. Most kings grab the report and toss you out, but Bumi seemed less interested in the report. "My advisors can read that. I want to know about your experiences in the different cities."

Zuko explained the differences he found in the big cities and the small towns. As expected, the small towns were much more communal. They watch each other's kids and run the schoolhouses together where the cities are more bureaucratic. He thought the smaller towns could use more supplies, like books or a public library and didn't necessarily need to become more like the big cities. "They could use more resources, surely, but they know how to use what they have. I think they need things more than they need people to guide them."

In between the towns was another story. "There are just a lot of bandits and the small towns don't have the manpower to try and police those dead zones."

"Would you suggest a special police force of some kind?"

"That might work for now, but what I think they really need is better transportation. It's hard to get from town to town, which is why these dead zones exist and why criminals hide there. With bigger, wider roads and some trains, you'll get more people living there and they will be better able to develop their own police force." Zuko wanted to use Ba Sing Se's road and train system as a model for the country, really connect the kingdom on the ground. "It would also be useful in future wars," Zuko pointed out.

"So it would be?"

After speaking to him for a few hours, Zuko had to go get ready for the dinner and now he was here.

* * *

Aang hugged him. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Not since the Kingdom almost collapsed on itself."

"Well, hopefully, that's the last time Azula invades Ba Sing Se."

"Although she is quite good at it."

"So how is your sister doing?"

Zuko shrugged. "Haven't heard anything, so I assume it's normal."

The friends caught up over dinner.

Toph was slowly losing her mind trying to become "a lady."

Aang learned to keep his mouth shut.

The three friends decided they should meet up more frequently.

"How long are you here for?"

"Uncertain." At some point Bumi would have to start trying to figure out what he wanted to do with the Kingdom, work with the Council and his advisors to produce a plan. Zuko would be apart of the plan, but until the King made some decisions, it was unclear what he would be doing exactly. "A while I guess?"

"How's Suki?"

"She's good." The Island is really nice again now that there is no more war.

* * *

Sokka had sent letters to Aang and Iroh about the search for Azula's mother. He wanted to write to Zuko but had no idea where he actually was. He asked his sister who said, "um he's travelling around the Earth Kingdom or something."

"Do you remember where?"

She shrugged. "I might not have asked."

"Didn't you want to know?"

"As long as he's not in trouble, does it matter where he is?"

Sokka would never fully understand the hands off relationship the siblings had with each other. He knew they weren't close as children, but it seemed like nothing would bring them together again. They would be allies from a distance at best.

He included in his note to Iroh, "if you see Zuko, tell him I'm forming a search party for his mother. I think I know where she is."

The older prince got the letter and was surprised. He was able to find her? Zuko couldn't get anywhere.

He wondered when Zuko would be back in Ba Sing Se and there he was, walking into his teashop.

"Zuko!"

"Uncle!"

The two men hugged. "When did you get back?"

"Yesterday, but I had to work and I was all dirty and needed a bath and …"

"Well it's good to see you now. Tell me of your travels."

Zuko told him about Kyoshi Island and Omashu and all of the small towns he visited from Omashu to Ba Sing Se. He also described his fights with bandits.

"Does the Blue Spirit live?"

"He's on hiatus."

Iroh had not that much to report. Once the city was up and running again, business got a good burst. Apparently, people found just sitting and enjoying a cup of tea very nice after all of the fighting and disruption to their lives. Iroh hadn't told Zuko of the letter at first because he knew his nephew would run out the door once he got the news.

"I got a letter from Sokka."

"Really, what did it say?"

"He's starting a search party to look for Ursa. He thinks he knows where she is!"

"WHAT? WHERE!"

"He thinks she's in her hometown Hira'a. He wanted to tell you, but he didn't know where you went."

"When are they going? I gotta go." Zuko was ready to run.

"Calm down for a second."

Zuko couldn't. "He really found her?"

"He thinks she did. He can't no for sure until he goes."

"Until we go. I gotta go with him."

Aang had also received his letter and read it to Toph.

"A search party, that sounds way better than training to be a queen. Let's go!"

She was excited to get dirty and possibly rough up some bad guys. Lo and Li offered to go with them, but Toph said, "NO! I mean no thank you. Why don't you take a vacation on Ember Island until I come back?"

"We'll be ready to resume your training."

"I know you will be," she grumbled. This vacation would be short-lived.

Zuko, Iroh, Toph and Aang flew to Captial City on Appa. The search for Ursa would begin soon.


	26. Chapter 26

"No! No! No!" Azula hollered the local mayor. "What part of directive do you not understand?"

The Fire Lord had been trying to help the local governments exercise more control in their territories by issuing directives instead of regulations, the difference being a directive requires an end result, but allows each government to reach that result how it sees fit and a regulation is just a law with which they have to comply. She went through the trouble to get the law passed in the Council allowing her to do this, only for the local governments to complain it was too hard to figure out how to make the necessary laws.

"I think the core concept," he said sheepishly.

"Why didn't you just make this a regulation?" an aide questioned.

"I kept getting complaints that the local governments wanted to exercise more control, that the Fire Nation shouldn't be swept with one broad brush, so I went through the trouble of finding away to allow for such control, only to hear that making laws is hard and you'd rather I do it for you."

"Yes," said the mayor.

"Agni why?"

She realized this was too revolutionary for her country. "Fine, I will replace the directive with a regulation. Are we done now?"

"Yes."

"Good. Get out of my office."

Azula's friends had been waiting for her in the lounge. She sent food and drink to make up for her tardiness.

"Why are local officials so stupid?" Azula questioned.

"Inbreeding," Mai told her.

"Oh I forgot about that."

* * *

"Are we ready to start strategizing?" Sokka was so excited.

Azula held out a finger to pause him. She poured the whiskey into a glass, did a shot of it, and then said, "now I'm ready."

"Alright. So Ursa was born in a small town called Hira'a. While she was there, she was an actress who starred in Love Amongst the Dragons opposite Ikem, her boyfriend.

Her father arranged with Azulon to have her marry Ozai, so she moved here and was supposed to cease contact with Ikem and her family, but she didn't. Ozai found out and threatened to kill Ikem, so he vamoosed. Ursa was banished 10 years later.

Her parents were deceased by that time, but according to the census records, Ikem was still alive. I believe she reconnected with him and they likely returned to Hira'a as all of the searches in the major cities turned up empty. They may be using aliases to evade Ozai or his agents.

So, our first stop is Hira'a, and if they aren't there, we're going to have to find the people who knew them and see what they can tell us. Any questions?"

Toph put up her hand. "Have we tried more recent census records to get a location on them?"

"Yes, and they weren't listed, which is why I think they have aliases. Any other questions?"

Azula wanted to ask if she could stay home. It was one thing to be hypothetically looking for her mother. It was a whole other thing to actually be going. The young monarch held her tongue.

No one had any questions. "Anything people would like to say."

Iroh was in charge until Azula came back. The Fire Lord briefed him on the latest events. "So basically, people are stupid and you have to hold their hands all day."

Iroh chuckled. "Some things just never change." Azula would always be blunt and quick to the point.

* * *

That night, Zuko was too excited to sleep. "We're finally going to find Mom." He had been waiting for this day seven years. He still couldn't believe Sokka got Ozai to cough up the letters. The guy did come across as a total bonehead, but he had proved his usefulness, which isn't terribly surprising. Azula did not take to useless people very well.

He wrote a letter to Suki, since he wasn't sure what his access to mail would be over the next couple of weeks.

Dear Suki,

"I'm currently at the palace, but by the time you get this, I will be on my way to Hira'a. Sokka thinks my mother is there, so we have a search party formed to look for her.

I'm a bit wary about being with my sister for an indeterminate amount of time. It sounds like it could be dangerous for my mental (or physical) health, but some risks are necessary.

I hope all is well with you and hopefully, I will be able to tell you all about finding my mother the next time we speak.

Zuko

* * *

Mai and Ty Lee were in bed. The acrobat was about to fall asleep.

"Has Azula seemed short-tempered to you lately?"

Ty Lee shrugged. "She's always kind of short-tempered."

"Well, yeah, but she seemed flustered." Like during her meeting today. She knew the mayor was an idiot, so she shouldn't have been surprised that he was confused by basic concepts, but she seemed aggravated, when she would normally just make a snide remark and move on to something else. "Normally, she's short tempered, but still in control, like if she throws lightening at someone.

Ty Lee frowned. "I guess she has been a bit off. Maybe she's just tired. This trip could do her some good."

Mai wasn't sure. The trip might be the problem. She didn't get a chance to say anything to her friend before she left. She just hoped she kept it together while she was gone.

* * *

The group left shortly after sunrise. They had to pack light since there were five people on Appa and he'd be flying for a while today. They brought the bare minimum for camping supplies and if it got too rough outside, they'd just go to an inn.

The virtue of the Crown stamp, it was good anywhere in the country.

Toph hated this part. She couldn't see in the air. Sokka started narrating the trip for her.

"We just took off the ground."

"No shit, Snoozles."

"There's a messenger hawk in the distance, a grove of trees and Zuko is frowning."

"If he does this the whole time, I'm going to kill him," Zuko warned.

"You won't be able to kill him," Azula retorted. She had tried before they got together. He's very resilient, like a cockroach.

Eventually, Toph fell asleep and Sokka stopped with his storytelling.

They were maybe half way to Hira'a when Aang saw what looked like smoke. "They might need help."

He landed Appa, and they got on the ground to investigate.

There was a house on fire. Aang was looking for a water source to douse the flames.

"Toph," Azula directed. "See if you can smother the fire with dirt." The Fire Lord tried to take over the fire and suppress it with her chi. She was able to contain the fire but not quite put it out.

Toph dumped a bunch of dirt on the house, putting out the fire, but angering the homeowner.

"Now my home is filthy."

"Well at least it's not on fire," Toph offered.

"I was trying to make dinner for my wife and you've ruined all the food!"

"The kitchen was on fire. How was that food not already burnt?"

"But you ruined all the food on the table too."

They started to argue.

Zuko was not amused. "Can we leave now? His house won't burn down."

Aang doused the house with water from a distance, not realizing the fire was already out.

"Now my house is filled with mud!"

Azula started to chuckle. "You are quite an unfortunate man aren't you."

He was not amused.

Aang apologized for the mess and used his bending to remove the dirt and the water.

"What about dinner?"

Aang agreed to help him make a new one.

"Why?" Zuko whined. "He clearly can't cook. He should have just bought dinner."

"Glad to see the Crown Prince relates to his constituents so well," Sokka said dryly.

"Shut up!"

The group split up, foraging for food to help this guy make dinner for his wife. "I found a komodo chicken," Sokka announced as he went to capture it.

Aang found some plumquats and lychee nuts. Toph got some potatoes out of the ground. Azula came back with a cabbage, and Zuko produced an onion.

"What the heck am I supposed to make with this?"

Azula frowned. "You want us to find the food and conceive the dish too? We may as well sleep with your wife and say we're her husband."

Zuko's jaw dropped at the ridiculous suggestion.

Toph started cracking up. "I wish Lo and Li could see this," their prodigy at work.

The man frowned.

After serious deliberation, they made fire roasted komodo chicken plumquat sauce, charred onion, roasted lychee nuts, and cabbage slaw.

"Hopefully, your wife enjoys it," Aang said as the group left.

* * *

"How much you want to bet he wasn't married at all?" Azula said as they left.

Sokka snickered. "He probably just wanted us to make him dinner."

Zuko shook his head. "Why was any of that necessary?"

"Because Twinkle Toes is a goody goody."

"Plus, I'd look like a pretty bad Fire Lord if I saw my citizen's house burning down and just flew on by," Azula retorted.

Toph snickered. "I bet you totally would have flown on by without us."

"Depends on where I'm going."

"Getting dim sum?"

"Not stopping. I'd maybe send an officer to investigate when I was at the restaurant."

"Oh dim sum!" Sokka wanted it now that she said it.

They decided to rest for the night and take off again the next morning. They pitched their tents, and Zuko built a campfire.

"Why don't we all tell stories?" Aang suggested cheerily.

Zuko and Azula looked at each other. Did they even have happy stories?

Aang went first, telling them about his attempt to fly over the temple with his air scooter. It ended in disaster, "but luckily I didn't break any bones." He was just all bruised and scraped up.

Sokka went next. "I was really hungry and I ate Katara's breakfast one morning after I ate mine. She started chasing me all over the tribe and when I thought I got away, she froze my feet to the ground and started pelting me with snowballs. She didn't stop until Dad came out to say Mom made her another breakfast."

Toph had a story. "When I was 8, I figured out how to sneak out of my parent's house." Being blind, that was no easy feat. "I tied a sheet to my bedroom window and lowered myself until I reached the ground. Anyway, I started wandering around the city and somehow, I ended up in the woods. I realized I had no idea how to get back, and I started weeping."

Toph was rather embarrassed to admit that part, but it was apart of the story.

"Anyway, this badger mole approached me and nudged me, so I followed it. It led her all through out the caves, using its earthbending to navigate. "Before I knew it, I was back, in the city square. Not only did the badger mole bring me back to town, but it also gave me my first earthbending lesson. Every chance I got, I would sneak out and go to the woods, and when I was 11, I knew everything they could teach me and I started entering rumbles."

"Aw isn't that like a fairytale," Sokka said teasingly.

"I'm gonna kill you."

Azula and Zuko looked at each other. Zuko went next.

"When I was ten, I had some friends over for all ghouls day (Halloween). Azula told me that the closed off corridor in the palace was haunted. I didn't believe her, so my friends and I broke into it. She knew we would, and she and her friends dressed up like ghosts and haunted the rooms.

At first, we didn't see them. We just heard doors slamming and chairs getting turned over. I assumed it was a prank, but they had these lights and mirrors, so it looked like there were really ghosts.

Azula, of course, had to be the star and she dressed up like Koh and said she was going to steal my face. We screamed so loudly. Some of those guys still won't come back to the palace. They wouldn't even come for the End of the War Party."

Toph was cracking up by the end. "Sparky, you got had by an eight year old."

"She was a diabolical eight year old!" he insisted.

Azula smirked. "That was so much fun. Ty Lee brought her sisters over to be my minions, so we could have people making noise in one room and arranging the visual effects in the other room.

Zuzu left out the best part of the story. Iroh heard them screaming and went to investigate. We scared him so badly."

"What did you do?" Aang asked.

"We pretended to be Sozin's wife and said he was going to be haunted if his siege failed."

Zuko's jaw dropped. "That's awful."

"At the time we found it funny." Azula still thought it was funny.

"Lu Ten died!"

Azula frowned. "It's not like I knew he was going to die, and it's not like Iroh continued the siege because of a ghost. He might be a bit foolish, but he's not that foolish."

The siblings started bickering. This was going to be a long trip.


	27. Chapter 27

That night, Sokka's snoring was quite loud. Azula was used to it and managed to sleep anyway.

Toph grumbled. "I didn't miss this."

Aang earthbended walls around the couple. "Now it's quiet," he murmured.

Toph had a devilish grin on her face. "And we have more privacy." She leaned in and kissed her boyfriend, straddling his hips as she sat on his lap.

Zuko was tossing and turning. "Sokka needs to shut up."

He got out of bed and saw that Sokka's snoring was so loud it almost made the tent levitate.

He turned to see an earth house and assumed Toph made it to block out Sokka. Zuko approached it. "Can you put an earth house around Sokka so his snoring is contained?"

When he leaned in, however, he heard moaning and rustling.

"EW!" They're what 13. Well, they have been playing house for a while. It can't be too surprising.

* * *

The next morning, Sokka woke up feeling chipper.

Azula was draped over his chest. "Can't we just lie here today?"

"But we're almost there," Sokka told her.

Azula grumbled as she sat up.

Zuko was not in a good mood.

"You look like hell," Aang told him.

"I couldn't sleep because someone's snoring is so loud it could guide ships through the fog."

"Twinkle Toes! What happened to my shirt?"

"EW!" Zuko complained.

"Oh hush Sparky. It's not like you and fan girl are any better."

They cleaned up the campsite and headed off to Hira'a.

There was no fire today. Instead, there was heavy rain. Aang tried to waterbend it away, but it was hard to waterbend and fly Appa at the same time and they went in wrong direction for a little while.

About an hour behind schedule, they finally landed in Hira'a. Of course, not many people were out because of the poor weather.

They walked to the local inn and when Azula tried to pay with the royal stamp, she was told, "we don't take stamps."

Azula frowned. "You have to. The law on the subject is quite clear. Royal stamps have the equivalency of cash."

"Well, the last time people used stamps, their banks refused to pay."

"You should have sued them."

"I decided to stop taking stamps instead."

"Who owns this inn?"

The woman behind the counter went to get her father.

The man was not happy that his smoke break was interrupted. "I told you already. I don't care if it's the Fire Lord out there I am NOT …" he looked to see Fire Lord Azula. "My Lord, of course we take stamps." He dragged his daughter way. "Why didn't you tell me the Fire Lord was out there?"

"That was her. I didn't know what she looked like."

"Did you not go to school?"

"You know you were too cheap to send me to school!"

They started to argue.

Azula rang the bell. "Can we get our rooms now?" Why did they come to this Agni-forsaken place?

A bellhop took them to their rooms. They got three of them. Zuko exiled himself to the end of the hall, in case the walls were thin.

"I'm hungry." Sokka wanted to look for food, as did Toph.

Zuko was studying the map, looking for his mother's childhood home as well as Ikem's.

Aang was tired. "I could really use a nap."

Appa was in the stable. He did take a nap.

"Zuko, do you see any restaurants on that map?"

"What?"

Azula took it from him. "I see a noodle house. Let's try that."

They left for the noodle house. When they got there, it was a bakery.

"What happened to the noodle house?"

"Oh, we turned it into a bakery three years ago." The old lady told her.

"Did anyone change the map?"

"Oh those maps are garbage. Where you trying ta get?"

Azula frowned. If their maps were no good, this search would take even longer. "I'm looking for my mother. She grew up here, but she left almost six years ago and we thought she might have come back here. Her name's Ursa."

The woman started to think. "Ursa, that name sounds familiar. Bo!" she called out.

An old man came out. "What is it, dear?"

"You remember an Ursa, grew up around here."

"Yeah, that was Jinora's kid."

"Oh yeah. You see Ursa around here?"

"No."

"She might be using a fake name," Zuko added. "She and her boyfriend, Ikem."

"A fake name? Hmm. That makes it harder. Well, most of the people round here have been here their whole lives, so if they're living under fake names, they got to be in one of the newer houses." The woman gave them some places to look.

Sokka decided to get some pastries. "They have meat pastries!" He got a bag of pine taro puffs and was happy.

Toph got a meat pie. Aang got a fruit tart.

Azula got a red bean puff. "This is so good."

Zuko got a baguette.

"How boring," Azula told him.

"Whatever. It's cheap!"

They headed back to the inn.

"At least we didn't bother with that map," Sokka said. He had been so proud of himself for finding it too.

"We should have cartographers go through the small towns, make the maps actually accurate."

"But then we wouldn't have gotten these pastries."

Azula kissed his nose. He was a simpleton, but he was her simpleton.

They split up until dinner. Aang got his much needed nap. Toph was just glad to be on the ground again.

When they did reconvene, they got into a dispute as to where to eat.

"How can we not go to Ringo's Barbeque?" SOkka was looking forward to it.

"Barbeque places usually don't have a lot of vegetarian options," Aang countered.

"Can't you just eat the bread?"

The bickering continued as Toph got bored and Zuko was ready to leave them all.

"How about we go in the direction of the barbeque place and see what else is in town?"

Azula coaxed everyone out the door and they started walking. As it turned out, the barbeque joint was right next to a vegetarian café.

Aang went inside to see what they had while Sokka was checking out the barbecue pit. "That is a lot of meat."

"We make it all fresh daily," a flirtatious woman said as she came out to greet them.

"Welcome to Ringo's Barbeque, table for four?"

"Make it five," Azula said. "We have a friend who may be joining us." Azula stared down the girl. Back off bitch!

"Of course. I'll get your menus, just follow me to your table."

The restaurant was small, not surprising in this town.

"Can I start you off with anything to drink? We have whiskey, beer, juice."

"Can we get a pitcher of beer and water for the table?" Sokka smiled. He loved beer!

"Certainly, my name is Lita. If you need anything just holler."

"My name is Lita and I'm a tramp," Azula muttered under her breath.

"Are you jealous?" Sokka teased.

"No," Azula insisted.

"Oh, I like it when you're jealous." He leaned in to kiss her.

"You're ruining my appetite," Zuko complained.

"More food for me!"

Aang came back. "Apparently Ringo owns both restaurants, so they can just bring the food here."

"Isn't Ringo an entrepreneur?" Azula wondered if Lita was his wife or his daughter. In small towns like this, it could be both.

Lita came back with the beer and water. "Have y'all decided what you want to order?"

Azula got a brisket sandwich with the side salad and a side of spicy fries.

Toph got the pork chops.

"Can I get the ribs pulled pork combo with spicy fries and kimchi mac and cheese?" Sokka handed her his menu.

"I'll get the ribs," Zuko said.

Aang got the spicy grilled tofu, grilled veggie combo.

Lita came back with bread for the table and asked if they wanted any cocktails.

"I think we're good for now," Azula said. The girl made off. "How much does she expect us to drink before the food gets here?"

"Those people looked tanked," Sokka said looking at what appeared to be a group of laborers.

"Of course they are. They're blue-collar workers. They're always inebriated."

"Glad to see you think so highly of your constituents," Toph muttered.

"You can't see anything," Azula retorted.

Toph laughed. "That's why I like you Fire Princess." She just doesn't give a crap.

Noren and his friends were looking forward to some really good barbeque. One of them noticed Azula. "Look at her. Don't she look like the Fire Lord?"

"Why would the Fire Lord come here?"

They peered at the rest of her table. "Wait, that scarred guy is definitely Zuko. It must be the Fire Lord."

"Man, I'm surprised she knows where Hira'a is. Most people can't find it on the map."

"Well the map does lie," one of them laughed.

"I dare you to go ask for her autograph," one of them said to Noren.

Three drinks later, he did.

Azula found his gesture amusing. "To whom should I write this?"

"Um, My wife, Noriko."

Azula wrote some trite message to the woman and he thanked her before he made off.

"Now that was weird."

The food came and Azula focused on that instead.

"This is really good," Toph commented. She had been skeptical of Ringo, but he made good barbeque.

Sokka went to town. His food took up two plates and soon they would be empty.

Azula warned him not to choke on any bones. "I doubt they have a decent hospital here if you get yourself into trouble."

Sokka continued to eat like he had never eaten before.

Azula shook her head.

After they finished their meal, they headed back to the inn. Azula couldn't get the names Noren and Noriko out of her head. "They sound made up. Why would a husband and wife have such similar names? It's not like they have the same parents."

"Maybe they made them up together," Sokka said before he thought about it.

Azula frowned. "You don't think that he was …"

"Ikem? It could have been him. We should go back to the barbeque place tomorrow and find out about him."

* * *

The next morning, Zuko and Azula were arguing about where to go.

"I think we should check the new houses." Zuko told her.

Azula thought they should go back to the barbeque place and figure out where those guys were working.

They eventually split up. Zuko went with Aang and Toph while Sokka and Azula wnet to the barbeque place.

Lita was surprised to see them again. "Back so soon?"

"What do you know about Noren?"

"Who?"

"He was one of the drunken guys here last night."

"Oh, they all work in the lumbar yard at the edge of town."

She pointed.

"Let's go."

"Can I get a sandwich to go?" Sokka asked with a grin. They did breakfast sandwiches.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko was not having the best of luck with the locals. He asked one woman if she was Ursa and she seemed insulted that he thought she made up her name. "Just because Jina'a isn't the most usual name doesn't mean I made it up," she slammed the door in his face.

"Maybe Twinkle Toes should talk to the other people."

Zuko frowned. "I guess you're right."

They made it to the next house where Kiyi was playing in the yard. Aang asked her what her name was when an old lady came out. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm the Avatar. My name is Aang. I'm looking for a woman named Ursa. She might have an alias."

"Well, I don't know any Ursa. I'm Hanna, and this is Kiyi."

"Is she your granddaughter?"

"No. I'm babysitting. Her mother is Noriko."

"Oh." The woman Azula wanted to find. "What do you know about Noriko?"

* * *

Azula and Sokka got to the lumberyard. She went to find the project manager. "May I talk to Noren for a minute?"

"Fire Lord Azula! Of course you may." He pulled Noren off the project.

"Sorry about last night," he said. "My friends and I were drunk."

"Oh it's not about that. I'm in town looking for my mother. Her name is Ursa, but I believe she changed it."

Noren hadn't even thought that Azula was in town for her mother. "She did change it, to Noriko."

"And you used to be Ikem?"

"Yes. Your father threatened to have me killed when he found out your mother and I were still exchanging letters after she left. He had prohibited her from contacting me or her family after she moved to the Capitial City to marry him. I changed my name to Noren, so he wouldn't find me. When your mother came, she went to the Mother of Faces to get a new face, so no one would recognize her."

"So even if Zuko did find her, he wouldn't know it."

"No. She won't remember you until she goes back to the Mother of Faces."

He explained how to get to his house from the lumbar yard. They got there and found Zuko and the others waiting for Noriko to come home.

"This is it," Azula said.

"I knew it. I got here first," Zuko bragged.

"And I'm the one who knows how to get her memory back, genius."

"What's wrong with her memory?"

Sokka explained how Ursa had gotten a new face and wouldn't recognize them until she went back to the Mother of Faces.

About an hour later, Noriko came home.

"Hanna, Kiyi I'm back."

"Mommy!" Kiyi ran to hug her mother.

Hanna was in the kitchen. "The Avatar and his friends are here to see you."

"What could they want with me?"

She turned to see Azula and Zuko. They looked familiar. "Aren't you the Fire Lord?"

"I am."

"What do you want with me?"

"We were hoping you'd go back to the Mother of Faces and get your face back," Zuko said to her. "You're our mother, well you used to be."


	28. Chapter 28

Noriko was baffled. She had no memory of either of her children, but their story coincided with when her memories began. She didn't remember anything before seven years ago and according to her "children," that's when she left home.

"Why would I have left my family behind?"

"Ozai banished you from the country," Sokka told her. "Your ex-husband. You thought he would try to kill you, so you came here and got a new face and with that a new identity. Your husband got a new face too, so Ozai wouldn't recognize him."

Overwhelmed with the new information, they decided to give her a chance to digest, and to wait for Ikem to come home.

* * *

Azula had imagined this in maybe 100 different ways: Ursa not wanting anything to do with them, Ursa only wanting Zuko, Ursa chastising her for the way she got the crown. She didn't even think that it was possible that Ursa would be gone, that this new woman would be in her place. Maybe Ursa never wanted to go back. Maybe this had been the only way she'd ever be free.

Zuko took the time to get to know his half-sister Kiyi. She liked dolls, and he picked one up to play with her. He was optimistic that once Noriko got over the shock, she would want to become Ursa again.

Aang and Toph felt like the odd ones out. This wasn't their family, and it never would be. They weren't sure what they should do with themselves right now. Aang suggested that they explore the neighborhood. Toph figured why not and went with him.

The houses were small and the plots were fairly large. There were maybe 8-10 houses on each street and only 5 streets with houses on this side of town. Unlike the major cities that the others lived in, this was small, quaint.

"I can't imagine growing up here," Toph admitted. This area seemed so boring. They saw more livestock than people.

Aang thought it was peaceful.

"You say peaceful, I say boring."

"I wonder how many people in the Earth Kingdom live like this."

Toph shrugged. "Probably a good number. There were three major cities in the Earth Kingdom, four if you counted Yu Dao, but that was a complicated situation. Everyone who doesn't live in a city or in the surrounding suburbs probably lives in a small town like this."

Zuko would know more. He was the one who had actually toured through the country.

Toph's stomach started to growl. "Do you think there's a restaurant anywhere near here?"

"We'll probably have to go back to the center of town."

"What center?"

"The barbeque place?"

"Let's do it."

* * *

Hanna had left to go home. She had always known there was something strange about the woman. She had no backstory to speak of and neither did her husband. Her running away from Capital City made a lot of sense.

It wasn't her business anyway. The nanny got home and started working on her chores.

Sokka got hungry and he and Azula left for lunch.

They found a cart where a guy was selling bahn mi sandwiches for two coins each.

"You can't get food this cheap at Capital City," Sokka said as he bought two sandwiches. "One would have cost 5 coins."

Azula was wary of eating food out of a cart, but it did smell good. Eventually, she decided on the cow pig bahn mi. "How long have you lived here?" she asked the man who sold the sandwiches.

"My whole life."

"And what do you think of Hira'a?"

"It's alright I guess. Nothing really happens here, which is good if you don't like crime."

They took the long way going back to the house. "What do you think the Mother of Faces is like?" Sokka questioned.

Azula shrugged. "Who knows if she's even going?"

"Why wouldn't she go?"

"She got a new face for a reason."

"Yeah, to escape Ozai who's in jail."

"Like Ozai was ever coming here. Maybe Ursa didn't want to be Ursa anymore. She married a man she didn't love and had two kids who she left behind. Maybe Noriko won't want to go back. What if it makes her forget the daughter she has now?"

Sokka couldn't really refute the last point. "I don't know what will happen to Noriko's memories, but we should at least ask. Maybe this will all workout."

With my family, things never work out. There was a reason that the royal family tended to stay away from each other.

A little boy ran outside his house to greet his father coming home from work. The business day was ending soon. It was only two more hours before Noren came home. "Noriko, Kiyi, I'm home!"

"Daddy!" the girl jumped into her father's arms.

Noriko was sitting on the couch, looking at a portrait of her (new) family. "How was work?" she asked as she kissed her husband.

"It was good. Did Azula and Sokka come here?"

"Yes, and Zuko and their friends. They're still here, somewhere."

They were waiting outside.

"Kiyi, why don't you play with our guests? Your mother and I need to talk."

Noriko had a lot of questions about her past. Noren answered what he could. She was surprised to learn that she had killed her father in law to save her son and she fled to get here, so she would survive.

"Ozai was a horrid man," Noren told her. "It wasn't your fault."

"But I left them there, and look at Zuko's face. Ozai did that to him."

She was scared of becoming Ursa again.

"I know it's surreal, but your kids waited seven years. I think you owe them something after all this time."

"I need to talk to the Mother of Faces, alone."

Noren nodded. He explained to her how to get there, and she took a torch.

"Where's Mommy going?" Kiyi asked after seeing her leave.

"She has to take care of something, but there's nothing to worry about. Daddy's here."

Zuko was sure Noriko was going to get her face back.

Azula wondered if she was just going to take off again.

Sokka held his girlfriend close to him.

Toph felt ready to fall asleep.

It took Ursa two hours to find the Mother of Faces. She wondered if she should have waited until tomorrow morning or at least brought a map.

"Noriko, it's been a long time," the spirit greeted you.

"Hello. I was wondering if you could answer me a few questions."

"Of course. What is on your mind?"

"Do you remember me when I was Ursa?"

"I do."

"Can you tell me what happened when I came to you?"

"Well, you came with your husband. I was surprised you wanted a new face since you were so pretty. You seemed very concerned about your ex-husband finding you or sending hit men after you. I told you that you wouldn't remember your children. You started to cry. Eventually, you decided to go through with it."

"If I go back, will I remember Kiyi?"

The spirit paused. "You won't forget her, but the memories will be cloudier for a while. Your mind needs adjustments when two identities come back together."

Noriko didn't know what to do. She had a new life here and a new family. Would her children expect her to come home? She should have talked to them before she came here. "My children found me," she told the spirit. "I don't know what to do."

"What's the matter?"

"If I go back to being the woman they remember, I'll be a virtual stranger to my daughter now. If I go home, then I'll have to uproot my family. It seems no matter what I do, I'm being unfair to someone."

The spirit looked at her. "You have to be true to yourself. Only you can know what that means."

Noriko went for a walk. She still had a lot to sort out.

Noren was starting to worry. "She should have been back by now."

"Maybe she got lost?" Aang suggested. "It is dark and she hasn't been there in a long time."

"We should go look for her," Zuko insisted.

Azula had no interest in getting lost in the woods at night. "Maybe she needed some time to think."

"She's been thinking all afternoon!"

"You always were an impatient one, Zuzu."

"Don't call me that!"

"This decision didn't come easy to her," Noren admitted.

"What do you mean?" Zuko questioned.

"She wasn't sure what to do. I think she went to the Mother of Faces for advice."

"Who is the Mother of Faces?" Sokka questioned.

"She grants new faces for those who need a fresh start."

"She's Koh's mother," Aang added quietly.

"The Face Stealer?" Toph questioned.

"Yeah. He has mommy issues."

"Why is that not a surprise?" Azula said dryly.

It was another two hours before Ursa came home.

Zuko was jumping for joy. Azula had already fallen asleep.

"MOM!" He hugged her tightly.

"Zuko, I missed you so much."

"So many things have happened."

Kiyi was already in bed. Noren had been waiting in his bedroom for his wife, unsure of who she would be when she came home.

Zuko and Ursa quickly got lost in their own world. He started telling her all about his travels with his uncle and how he came to defect from Ozai.

When Azula woke up, she felt like an outsider once again. Old wounds that she hoped had healed just reopened instead. She walked back to the inn alone.

Sokka had been sleeping on the couch next to her. When he woke up, he asked, "Where's Azula?"

"What?" Zuko said. He hadn't noticed her leave.

Ursa hadn't either.

Sokka searched the house. "She's gone."


	29. Chapter 29

Azula made it back to the inn only to find the door locked. She could have fire vaulted her way into their room, but she wasn't entirely sure which window was theirs and did not want to land in the wrong bedroom.

Instead she went and sat under a tree. As a little girl, she used to climb them. She would go up high when she didn't want to be found. Lu Ten was the only one who knew to look for her there.

Out of all of her family members, she had been the closest to him as a child. He had been the only one to see that under the veneer she maintained for Ozai, she was just a scared child who needed someone to love her. She looked up at the stars, wondering if he was looking down on her. Why is it that only the good die young?

* * *

Ursa thought it was too late to go looking for her now. "Maybe we should wait until the morning. We could get lost going out there now."

Sokka frowned. "Azula's never been here before. She might be lost now."

"She's always had a good sense of direction," Zuko said, agreeing with his mother. "She probably went back to the inn."

In the dark, Sokka wouldn't be able to do much, not without some light. "Do you have any torches?"

Sokka was about to head out alone when Toph and Aang decided to go with him.

There wasn't anywhere for them to sleep there anyway. They had been on the floor and "who knows, maybe Princess Fireblast got into something interesting," Toph snickered as they left.

They started walking down the road. The inn was on the other side of town.

"For a town with barely anything in it, it is rather spread out," Aang commented as they walked.

"Land's probably really cheap here," Sokka answered. People can afford to spread out, unlike in the busier cities.

Toph was beginning to miss the city. "I could go for a kabob right now." There wasn't anywhere to get food late here.

Sokka sighed. "Yeah me too!"

Unfortunately, a herd of wasps was also hungry and started to follow them.

Sokka swung at them, which only pissed them off.

"Good work Snoozles."

"Aang, can't you do your peace thing and get them to chill."

Aang rolled his eyes at Sokka. "I manage disputes between people not insects."

"Well, we're people having a dispute with some angry insects."

Aang gently airbended them out of sight. "Hopefully, they don't come back."

They didn't, for about 10 minutes. Then they came back with a gigantic swarm.

"Oh shit!" Sokka cursed.

They all started running. The swarm was gaining on them, getting ready to surround them and sting the living hell out of them when a blue flame took out a big chunk of their army.

Azula had heard their antics. She had been sitting under a tree by the inn.

The rest of the wasps flew away.

Sokka found Azula's eyes piercing through the darkness. "What are you doing out here?"

"They lock the inn doors at 10." She wished they had mentioned that.

"What?"

"I have a key to our room, but not to the outside door."

Aang made a water key to open the door. They locked it behind them and headed upstairs.

Aang and Toph headed to bed.

Sokka stayed behind with Azula. "How come you didn't want to stay?"

Azula looked at the ground. "Time hasn't changed anything."

"What?"

"It's been almost seven years, and when Ursa came back, she gravitated to Zuko and forgot all about me."

"Maybe she just wanted you to get your rest."

"If you hadn't seen your kids in seven years, wouldn't you wake them up when you got home?"

Sokka would have. He imagined most parents would have. "Did you want to go to bed?"

"Not really."

When Sokka was growing up, he would walk around the tribe when he couldn't sleep. "Why don't we just go somewhere?"

"What's in this town?"

"Probably nothing."

Azula shrugged. They left again. "I guess we'll have to stay out until morning."

Sokka took her hand in his.

They didn't talk as they made it towards the center of town. There weren't any streetlights. Sokka still had the torch and used it to illuminate their path.

* * *

Daylight shone through the window harshly telling Noren it was time to get up for work.

Ursa was still asleep. She had stayed up later than he did. He started to get his work clothes together.

Once he was dressed, he went downstairs and made oatmeal for breakfast. Normally, Ursa was up by now and made breakfast. He ate alone and kissed Kiyi's forehead before he left.

The little girl woke up and went to find her mother. Usually, she was downstairs, but there was only Zuko sleeping on the couch. Kiyi tried her mother's room and when she woke her up, she realized a stranger was in her mother's place.

It alarmed her, causing her to jump back into the wall. Ursa woke up at the thud. "Kiyi, what are you doing?"

It sounded like her mother, but "what happened to your face?"

The woman sat up. "Years ago, I went to the Mother of Faces and asked for a new face. Last night, I went to get my old face back."

Kiyi frowned. "Why would you keep changing your face?"

"It's a long story, Boo. Where's your father?"

"Work?"

Ursa looked at the time. "Oh, I should have been up over an hour ago." She got dressed and went downstairs.

"Mom," Zuko said sleepily.

"Zuko, all of your friends are gone."

Zuko said, "so."

"So, how are you going to get home?"

They wouldn't leave without telling him. "I'm sure they're just at the inn."

* * *

Aang needed a bath. He drew one while Toph was still sleeping. He added soap and made the water foam with his airbending and heated the water with his firebending. Oh the virtues of being the avatar. It was easy to make your bath awesome.

He coaxed Toph awake.

"What do you want?"

"Bath time."

"Have fun." She didn't plan on getting up.

Aang, however, did not agree. He started to take off her clothes.

"Not now. I'm sleepy."

"Not that," he said with a laugh. "Your bath."

"Heck no," she retorted and curled up in a ball to block him. He just airbended her into the bathtub.

"I hate you Twinkle Toes."

"No you don't."

She had to take off her clothes now. They were weighing her down. "Now my clothes are all wet!"

"Free laundry," he retorted as he joined her in the tub. "When's the last time we had a bath?" He knew they didn't take one yesterday and wasn't sure about the day before.

"You know I like dirt."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't be clean for once."

She splashed him and they started to fight in the tub. Being a waterbender gave him a distinct advantage.

"You suck."

"No, I leave that to you."

She growled as he washed her hair.

Once they got dressed, they went to try Sokka and Azula's door.

"Are they in there?" Aang questioned. He opened their door with an water key and they weren't.

"Maybe they went to her mother's?"

"I doubt it."

They went to go find somewhere to eat breakfast where they found the Fire Lord asleep on Sokka on a bench.

Toph used her earthbending to flip over the bench, making them fall on the ground.

"What?" Azula woke up on the ground.

"Time to get up Princess Transient," Toph laughed.

"Did I fall asleep out here?"

Sokka was still asleep. The drop did nothing to wake him up.

Azula shook him awake.

"Five more minutes Katara."

"Do I look like Katara?"

Sokka opened his eyes. "Why's your hair all messed up?"

"Because we fell asleep outside like homeless people."

"I used to sleep outside a lot."

"But you're a peasant."

He grunted. "A hungry peasant."

The quartet looked for breakfast. Somehow, they were at the bbq restaurant again. "Is this the only restaurant in town?" Azula questioned. She hadn't remembered seeing another one.

"Well there is the vegetarian café next door, but we own that too," the waitress told her.

Sokka was ready for a bbq breakfast sandwich.

"You get more food with the platter," the waitress told him.

"Oh then I want that."

Aang got the egg and veggie sandwich.

Toph went with the bbq breakfast sandwich.

Azula went with the pancakes. She was rather surprised when she got shredded pork and these thin pancakes. "I thought this would have come with fruit and syrup."

"MEAT!" Sokka said.

Azula rolled her eyes. "This town is so weird."

They ate their food and debated what to do next.

"Don't we have to get Zuko," Aang said.

"He can find his own way home," Azula said.

"How, there's no transit?" Toph wondered.

"He's got feet," Azula retorted.

"You don't want to say goodbye to your sister," Sokka questioned.

"I never said hello to her."

She got roped into returning to her mother's house.

Ursa had gone to the market, leaving Kiyi with Zuko.

When Sokka knocked on the door, Kiyi answered it. "My mom's at the market."

"Wasn't she there yesterday?" Azula questioned.

Kiyi shrugged. She didn't remember.

"Maybe you two get to know each other," Sokka suggested.

Kiyi showed Azula her dolls.

"Azula liked giving them haircuts," Zuko commented.

"Actually, I liked cutting off their heads," she retorted.

Kiyi promptly hid her dolls.

"Why would you do that?" Zuko chastised.

"What? Dolls are stupid. All they do is teach girls it's your job to stay home and rear children. Why bother to send them to school or teach them anything? Even an uneducated bumpkin can watch a baby."

"She's just a little girl. It's not like she knows anything about politics."

"Would it be so bad to get her toy that would actually require her to think?"

The siblings bickered. Kiyi didn't really understand the conversation.

Sokka gave her a cow piggyback ride.

Ursa came home.

"Oh, you all came back," she said.

She still hadn't addressed her daughter, at least not individually.

"Mommy, I'm tall!"

"Why don't you come back to the ground? You're going to tire him out."

Sokka put her back on the ground. "How was shopping?"

"It was fine," she said. "I thought the house could use a new vase."

"It looks just like the one you already have," Azula commented.

"They're different," Ursa contended.

"Oh of course. One is red and black and the other is black and red."

Sokka gave her a look. They did look the same, but still.

The two women stared at one another. Despite their family resemblance, they were quite different. Ursa wished she could say she missed her daughter. Honestly, she never knew how to deal with her.

"Azula, you've grown."

"It's been seven years. I would hope that I have grown."

Kiyi went outside to play with Aang and Toph.

Zuko watched his mother and his sister from a distance.

"So you're the Fire Lord."

"Yes." She knew that before yesterday. Even this small town would have known what happened when the war ended.

"Why isn't Zuko?"

Of course! "Ozai wrote him out of the line of succession."

There was more to the story, but Ursa could tell that Azula wasn't going to tell her about it. "I always hoped you'd want to settle down someday."

"Fire Lords do get married."

"I know, but who will raise the children?"

"Sokka's better with children anyway."

"How have you been?"

"Do you mean recently or since you left?"

"Um both."

"Recently, things have been fine. The country is running smoothly, despite the incompetency of the local governments. Mai's in charge in my absence and unless Ty Lee convinced her to turn Capital City into a giant circus, I'm sure things are normal.

The last seven years, well I suppose they went as expected until the end of the war. Ozai became a power hungry warlord, and he pitted his children against each other to see who survived. He selected me to be is heir, and I would have been if Sokka hadn't persuaded me to turn on him, and now Ozai's in jail pondering how did both of his children become such a disappointment."

Ursa never would have thought that Azula would turn on her father. She had always been a daddy's girl. "Why did you turn on him?"

"I was on the edge of having everything I was raised to think was mine. We were about to win the world. I was next in line to keep it, and suddenly, I realized it would cost me the one thing I really wanted. I decided it wasn't worth it anymore. If ending the war was what it took for me and Sokka to be together, then I had to call back the troops, so I did."

Ursa was shocked. Azula hardly seemed like the kind of girl who would give up world domination for a boy, especially a peasant boy from the water tribes. "I don't know what to say."

Azula had imagined this confrontation 1000 times. She never thought she would have left her mother speechless.


	30. Chapter 30

Business was mostly normal for the Crown. Mai was handling domestic issues, while Ty Lee continued to work on the Ember Island summer beach party.

Mai was bored. "The palace is quiet with Azula and her savage."

"I know. Do you think they're having fun?"

Mai shrugged. "I don't know if fun's the right word."

"But they must have found her mom by now. They would have turned back if she wasn't in Hira'a."

"Do you remember Ursa?"

"Yeah. She was nice and would have the servants bring us snacks."

Mai frowned. "Do you remember Azula's relationship with Ursa?"

Ty Lee shrugged. "Not really." She didn't pay much attention to the former Princess when she came over to play. Azula had a way of always keeping Ty Lee's attention.

"It wasn't exactly a relationship to be envious of." Mai recalled the yelling and the fury. Ursa loved to scold, and Azula just had to lash out. It was the only way she could get any attention from her mother.

"But Azula went to find her. It couldn't have been that bad, could it?"

Mai thought it was that bad. "Azula always has to see things through, even if she knows it will only go badly in the end."

"We should order ice cream, so if it was a bad trip, when she comes home, there will be ice cream."

"You just want ice cream," Mai accused.

"So!"

Mai rolled her eyes, but she had a slight smile. "Let's get you a cone."

"Can I get two scoops?"

She's such a little kid!

* * *

It felt like an eternity that Ursa and Azula stood opposite each other. Finally, Kiyi called her mother for some reason and the gaze was broken.

It was a hard to accept, but Azula realized there just wasn't anything there between her and her mother. She once thought she hated her. She once felt so depressed because her mother didn't love her, but Azula realized it was time to get over it. She would never be the daughter her mother wanted her to be. Ursa would never be the mother Azula wanted her to be.

The former princess had a new life and a new family. It was best to just leave her to it.

"We should go home tomorrow," Azula told her boyfriend.

"Okay."

Zuko knew he should get back to work soon. He kind of bolted on Bumi, but he felt like he still had so much to catch up on. It had been six years that she was gone and they just found each other.

The dinner at the house felt forced to everyone, well except Zuko. He happily chatted with his mother like everything was totally normal.

Toph wanted to run out of the house. She felt like she did when her parents dressed her up and made her eat with them and random nobles. Aang had never had a dining experience like this one and was generally uncomfortable. Ikem was wishing his life would turn back to normal afterwards, and Sokka just wanted to go to the barbeque restaurant. This meal was so bland. The meat was somehow tasteless (she boiled it) and it was kind of hard to chew.

After the meal, Azula said farewell and saw herself out. Sokka followed her and Toph and Aang tripped over each other trying to leave.

"That wasn't awkward," Ikem said as the four teens fled like it was a warzone.

"I was never really able to connect to Azula," Ursa said, in a matter of fact kind of way. She thought it was because she was too much like Ozai, but now, Ursa didn't really know who she was.

Sokka wanted to do something to make her feel better, but there was nothing for him to say, no magic words to fill the hole in her heart.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Just stay with me," Azula said as they sat under the tree by the inn. Eventually, they would go inside, fall asleep, and go home when they woke up. It couldn't happen soon enough.

"Remind me never to come to Hira'a again," Toph muttered as she and Aang sat in their room.

"I'll remember," he said. He had no interest in ever sitting at that dinner table again.

Toph was no expert on parent/child relationships, but that was a fucking mess. Ursa was nice, but there was something off about her, something disturbing.

Zuko was the last to come back. He told his mother he'd visit again when he could, and "I really want you to meet Suki. She's wonderful."

"I'm sure she is," Ursa said with a smile.

They didn't talk much on the way back to the palace. Azula wasn't in a chatting mood. Sokka was asleep and Zuko was, well no one knew where his head was at.

When Appa came to land, it wasn't long before Ty Lee came running, hugging her princess. "You're home."

"I am," Azula said. "Was the palace that boring without me?"

"Yes! Well, except for our bedroom time, but I'm not supposed to talk about that."

Azula smirked. "Let's keep it that way, shall we." She did not need a visual of her two best friends.

"How was your trip?" Mai asked casually, when they got inside.

"AWESOME!" Zuko started going on and on. No one else shared his enthusiasm. Mai wasn't very surprised. He was always kind of clueless when it came to other people. She wondered if this was a hereditary trait.

Azula didn't talk about the trip at all. Sokka enjoyed the barbeque and Toph said, "man is that one lame town." Aang said he liked the "veggie burger, but Ursa's cooking was well, awful."

"You would think after six years, she would have learned," Toph added.

Zuko frowned.

The next day, Toph, Aang and Zuko went back to Ba Sing Se.

Azula went back to work, getting caught up on what Mai did in her absence. Ty Lee and Sokka were party planning while the "serious ones" dealt with taxes and trying to bring the government into balance. Unfortunately, Ozai had been a fan of deficit spending. It was almost a year later, and they were still working out how to get the budget balanced.

"We borrowed less money than the year before, but at this rate, it will be some time before the government is all caught up."

"How much time?"

"Three years."

Azula groaned. She didn't want to do anything drastic, but she hoped they would have broken even soon.

"At least we don't have anything in default, well anymore."

"I guess it's a start."

Mai didn't bring up Ursa. Azula was grateful for that, but as the days went on, Azula still didn't seem her normal self.

Mai asked Sokka about it.

"It wasn't a good visit. It was like Ursa didn't show anything for her."

"Like she was indifferent."

"Yeah. She was happy to see Zuko, mad to learn what Ozai had done to him, and Azula was like a nonfactor."

"I think indifference is the worst thing you can show for someone."

"Worse than hatred?"

"At least hatred means you care in some fashion."

Sokka sighed. "I don't know what to do. I can't make Ursa be a mother to all of her kids."

"No, you can't." Mai said.

* * *

That night, she came by the Fire Lord's quarters with a bottle of moon peach wine.

"What is that for?"

"Drinking."

"I assumed so," Azula told her. "I meant what's the occasion?"

"It's to get you to talk."

"Ahh and what am I talking about?"

Mai opened the bottle and poured two glasses. "I want to know how your visit went."

"Didn't Zuko tell you? It was swell."

"I meant, from the perspective of someone who's not a moron."

"Oh."

As they drank, Azula described their first encounter. "Even as Noriko, it was weird speaking to her, like she had some kind of aversion to me. She got her face back and she gravitated towards Zuko like I didn't exist."

Mai kept on pouring.

"Eventually, I realized that we're never going to work. I'll never be someone she can relate to, and she'll never love me anyway, just because I'm her daughter. I'll never be quite right in her eyes, and I decided it was just best go home."

Azula wasn't a quitter. She left Hira'a with a heavy heart, but she couldn't keep throwing good money after bad. It was time to just let go.

"What's wrong with me?" Azula asked her friend. "Why wasn't I enough?"

Mai couldn't answer; she could only held her friend while she cried.

Sokka wasn't sure what Mai said or did, but Azula started to snap out of it. She came back to him. It was a week after they returned when Sokka woke up one morning to find Azula on top of him with a carnal smile.


End file.
